Daemons of the fog
by Touhoufanatic
Summary: The Fog have begun using Conscription as a way to bolster their ranks and learn more about humanity. little did they realize what effects it would have, and how effective it would be in some individual cases! STORY IS AU. also Rated T
1. Chapter 1

**Authors forward: first off. This idea is a cooperative two sided story in cooperation with SirStonewall. The original story for his side is his own, while the concept of my side of the story is built off his ideas and an old idea of mine i never had previously started.**

 **His side of the story is called Ghosts In The Fog Redux. If you like this side, please read his side as well, for while they are cooperative and have some parts that will be roughly the same at times, many other parts between our two stories will not have the exact same scenes and will allow you to see both sides of the overarching conflict.**

 **This story is a fun and heavily AU idea and I hope you all enjoy both sides of it as much as we are writing it's two sides.**

 **Now then, onto the fun!**

"You sure you want this ma'am? I mean, I'm not against selling it to you, but. ." The store clerk, a middle aged man of native American descent said to the customer before them.

The customer was wearing a loose black hoodie and loose black pants. They had ragged brown hair down to their shoulders, one of which seemed damaged as it sat stuck in a pushed up position and seemed misshapen. They had androgynous feature on their face, though the side of their face by their wounded shoulder had a burn scar on it that made it even more difficult to tell the customers gender at a glance. Something the clerk should have thought about before speaking.

" It's fine, I have the experience for using all of it." The customer said, their voice weak and quiet as she took the cases off the counter and stuffed them into a large duffel bag. " And I'm a man."

"Oh, uh, I apologize it's just I thought that. . . " The clerk stopped and sighed. No point in digging himself deeper. "May I ask how, that happened?" he asked as he pointed to the customers scar and shoulder.

The customer stopped and nodded slightly before going back to putting everything in the duffel. "Arson burned down the apartment complex me and my dad lived in years ago."

"oh damn, I'm sorry. Did everyone make it out alright?"

"Most people did, though it didn't matter really."

"Why?"

"Because that was just before he was ordered onto a ship that was later taken out by the fog. Can I get that air tank please?"

The clerk nodded as he walked over to a hook and pulled an empty oxygen tank off the wall, placing it gently on the counter for the customer. "What about your shoulder, is that from the fire?"

"No. when in junior high I was ambushed by a gang of asshats who attacked me with wooden bats, and a cinderblock." The customer said casually.

"No way, they didn't!?"

"They did. Threw the cinderblock from behind, it struck my shoulder and shattered it instantly. Then they proceeded to beat me with the bats until they had broken my one arm and leg, shattered the bones. Took over a year to heal."

"Well, at least they healed alright, right?"

"They didn't, my bones are permanently damaged, and my shoulder didn't heal perfectly either, if it had it wouldn't be stuck up making me look like a bad excuse of a hunchback!" The customer snapped in response.

The clerk sighed, realizing he had made things far worse. "Look, I'm sorry, but are you sure you can use all that then?" He asked as he gestured to the duffel now full of scuba gear, high end scuba gear.

"Yes, it'll be fine." The customer said as they zipped up the duffel bag and swung it over their shoulder before taking hold of the oxygen tank in their other hand.

"Alright. You heading to the lakes up north I take it?" The clerk asked as he then realized he was missing some information for his sale book. "Oh, and can I get our name for my books as well?"

"My names Alex. And no, I'm not heading to the lakes inland. I'm heading to Vancouver." Alex said as he left the store, leaving the clerk there in shock, muttering in hope for him to not lose his life like so many had.

Exiting the store and throwing the bag and tank in the back of his old Junker, Alex let out a sigh and climbed into its cab. It smelled like age and oil, but it got the job done. With a twist and a groan, his car came to life, sounding liking a dying animal the entire time as he drove down the road, into the valleys of British Columbia.

His life sucked. Losing his father less than half a year after a fire which nearly killed him, being crippled by bullies in school who took out their hatreds on him just because of his scars and naturally androgynous looks. Getting taken in by his ex-mother, who-. He stopped, growling at the thought as his phone, an old flip style phone on its last legs, began buzzing incessantly. With a sigh he picked it up. "Hello?"

"Alex I do not know where you are but you will get back home now do you hear me?! This house is not going to clean itself and I have far too much riding on my next meeting to-"

"And there's the whore herself!" Alex said loudly enough to be heard before he turned off the phone and dropped it onto the seat. His whore of a mother had taken him in after his father had passed, but they had divorced because she was a slut, before and after they had married, his father just hadn't known. When she took him in she used him as nothing more than a slave, forcing him to singly clean her house and tidy up after her habits, while never doing anything for him besides dropping him a single twenty dollar bill a week for him to buy food for himself. even when he had been attacked and bullied she only came by the hospital once, refusing to even pay the whole hospital costs before ranting and raving about how he was supposed to keep care of her house while in a hospital.

As soon as he was done school he had begun working as much as he could, keeping money hidden and stocking up for him to leave her high and dry to go out on his own. And now after four years of saving up, he was doing just that, and was already more than three days away from his mother's house of horror.

After six more hours of boring, off and on travel, accented his phone going off nearly every five minutes until the battery died, Alex got his first view of his target as he came over a hill. He stopped his car and got out to take a look.

Down before him, was the historic city of Vancouver, once a mecca of business and traffic, now nothing more than a submerged abandoned city, and the remnants of civilization grasping on to it. Getting back in his truck he drove down and in less than half an hour, came to what was left, what still stood, and what still clung to life.

What remained of Vancouver was mostly fishing industry buildings, small docks and wharfs for fishermen to keep their boats working as they dangerous went out at first and last light to get what fish they could. Buildings on the shore could clean and package the fish for sale and transport inland, and a couple small but necessary stores kept the fishermen supplied with other foods, clothing and equipment.

Unlike many cities overtaken by the rising waters years ago, few people came back to Vancouver. There was little in the way of places to live, and the fleet of fog was an ever present danger. With the massive amount of inland territory that North America had for it, most people went inland. the west coast was covered only in fishing groups that worked out of the fjords, at least until you went further south to Seattle and even further.

Of course the civil turmoil inland was nothing to laugh at either, but people wanted to be safe from the fog, even if their fellow man was just as dangerous, and harder to see coming.

Driving slowly through the fishing area Alex came to a wharf on the far end where a couple of workers were fixing up a fishing boat and leaned his head out the side of the truck's open window. "Hey, you guys got an oxygen mix for diving?"

"I suppose so, but why?" one fisherman asked, a giant of a man, who was shirtless, allowing his hair covered boy to sizzle in the sun.

"I'm an entrepreneur!" Alex said with a grin "Can I use some or not?"

The other fisherman, a thinner, but still clearly strong man, let out a sigh of resignation. "Fine, whatever it's not like we use it often anyway." he said as he pointed to an outbuilding that sat against the main building. "It's in there, giant tank on the wall miss, just make sure you close it nice and tight when you're done filling, alright?"

" Gotcha!" Alex called back as he drove his truck to the outbuilding, letting out a sigh a moment later when he realised that that fisherman called him miss. Two times in one day when he had been driving for most of the day. "Sometimes I hate my life. No scratch that, most days I hate my life." he muttered as he got out after parking it and went into the outbuilding to fill up the new oxygen tank he had bought. Judging from the way those fishermen acted they knew what he was up to, but he didn't care. It was dangerous, but if successful it could make him lucratively rich!

Once the tank was full he left the outbuilding to find one of the fishermen standing beside his truck, looking into the back of it. When they noticed him however, he backed away sheepishly, only speaking up when Alex threw the now full tank back into the back of his truck. "Scuba gear huh? Planning on helping with some fishing maybe?"

Maybe they didn't understand what he was doing, all the better then. "Something like that, you know of a dock that people don't frequent often that I could work from in peace?"

"Yeah, there's a dock about a click north of here, the home by it got punched by a fog round a couple years ago, so it's just an empty shell. People say it's haunted."

"People say a lot of things." Alex said as he got back into his truck and started it up. "Know if there's a place around here that sells canoe's or seadoo's?"

The fisherman gave him a strange look but nodded.

Roughly an hour, and a couple thousand dollars later, Alex, with a seadoo shoved in the back of his truck, came to the abandoned dock, exactly where he had been told it was. A couple hundred meters up a hill from it was the birth wreckage of a house, and by the dock, the shattered remains of a building built over it. The dock itself was tucked into a very shallow fjord, protecting it from the wind. It was perfect!

Parking his truck by the docks and easing the seadoo into the water Alex got to work organizing his equipment, then once it was all organized, her stripped out of his clothing and began putting on the scuba gear, complete with a thermal under layer.

Halfway dressed he glanced down at his body and sighed. Burns covered his entire left side, and his left shoulder was horribly mangled. As if that wasn't bad enough, his androgynous features were made worse by the years of barely enough to eat under his mother's regime. His once healthy body was thin and lanky, making it all the easier to mistake him. Gods he hated biology, a thin lanky body coupled with an androgynous face was the worst!

Finishing donning the thermal layer and the scuba suit itself he clicked on a belt and began attaching the two small weights he needed for neutral buoyancy, then went further and began placing instruments and tools, including flashlight, crowbar, lock picks , a pouch, and a small improvised explosive that would be, in theory, be useful in breaking into locked doors if the picks didn't work. Then he threw his oxygen tank on his belt, suited it up, and grabbed his helmet.

The seadoo started up instantly as he flipped its switch and in seconds he was cruising out of the dock onto the open waters and toward his target, one of the tallest buildings of old Vancouver, a building that's top still sat just barely poking out of the surface of the water, acting as a perfect marker.

Circling the building Alex could see for miles across the still waters, nothing in sight in any direction, and once he found a piece of pipe that was still securely stuck to the building, lashed a rope from it around the seadoo so it would not drift off. Once the knot was tight he connected his oxygen tank to his helmet, full sealed the helmet, and then after some test breaths smiled to himself, and fell right off the seadoo backwards into the water.

The Cold north pacific wars washed over him, and even with the thermal lar under his suit he still felt a slight chill. I would pass though once he got moving, and so he did. Kicking his feet rhythmically he plummeted down towards the broken city, and was immediately able to see it in all its grand horror and disgusting splendor.

Towers of cement and steel rose up to claw at the water's surface, most never even reaching halfway. Cars, trucks and even elevated trains littered the streets, rusting among the fish that managed to survive among the desolation. Layers of ocean plants, seaweeds, lichens and kelp covered some buildings and cars in patchy chunks, etching out meager lives from the losses. Most buildings had glass still covering them, broken panes only existing in sparse mounts, but more than enough to drown the buildings they were meant to protect.

Because of the way the currents flowed, and how quickly the city became immersed, many things from personal belongings to commercial goods had been left behind. Electronics, foodstuffs and building supplies would clearly be worthless now, if they still were even salvageable, but things like precious stones and jewelry would still hold worth even if damaged by water. They just had to be found!

Reaching street level Alex began looking around for a worthy goal, and quickly found it in the form of a massive mall, its signpost still intact, and showing the names of long abandoned store, including a jewelry store.

Slipping inside through a broken door he found the inside of the mall to be mostly intact. sort of. The first level, and all the shops and stores there were still there, albeit covered in plant matter and surrounded by school of fish. The second floor, and the roof above it however, were completely gone and pieces of structural steel and concrete littered the floor. Whatever had taken them out was big and powerful, but long gone.

Swimming down the length of the mall ale growled as he continued to find nothing, until finally at the far end right before the remains of the food court, sat the jewelry store. Its glass storefront was completely intact, as was the inside counters, though both appeared full of water.

"Jackpot." Ales said to himself as he swam over and looked inside, seeing numerous glints and shines from the display cases.

Pulling out his crowbar he set to work on the door, and a couple seconds later felt the doors lock give away with a muted clink, the door swinging open into the store as if welcoming him in. Then what as in the way Was none other than the cases themselves. The glass on them looked thick, and the locks were tiny, too small for the picks he had brought.

"Dam, I was hoping I wouldn't have to use it so soon." Alex said with a sigh as he pulled out his explosive. It was not large, about the size of a rugged watch, as that was partially what it was built out of, a steel covered watch. placing it on the lock he pressed it again it until it held firm, then carefully activated it by setting the timer to five minutes. Then he swam out of the shop and down the length of the entire mall as fast as he could.

Explosives and water were a bad mix. The concussive wave could travel much further and do far greater damage underwater, so he needed to get as far away as possible or the wave would rupture his organs, making his death very quick, but ultimately very embarrassing as well. He didn't believe in any sort of deity or gods, but he didn't want his body drifting as fish food either.

Getting to the end of the mall Alex grabbed onto a column and hid behind it, just a thud reverberated through the water. Peeking out, he could see some fish swimming away in a panic, while one a couple meters away from him seemed to be no longer moving, dead in the water.

" Glad I got far enough away" Alex murmured to himself as he swam back to the jewelry store, only to find dozens of pieces of jewelry floating about at random along with a mangled bits of steel, with rubber on one side. "They were airtight cases. Crap." He muttered as he opened the pouch on his belt and began picking jewelry out of the waters around him. it took the better part of a half hour, mostly due to the jewelry getting pushed away by his own movements, but he ended up getting all the one that looked intact, a couple having been destroyed by his small explosive.

Preparing to leave the store with his bounty, a sudden current change sent him sprawling backwards into the back wall of the store. "Ow, what the hell was that?" Alex muttered as he looked, to see a strange shadow descend on the area outside of the store. "Oh that can't be good. Do I look, or try to find my way through back doors?" Alex muttered to himself quietly as he glanced around and spotted the employee's door at the back of the store.

" . . . ah hell with it." Alex muttered as he cautiously swam to the edge of the stores entrance, using a door to stop himself.

Regret was instantaneous.

Sitting there in the middle of the mall was a sleek shape of steel and violence, a Submarine. A single submarine was not a cause for alarms however, simply because torpedoes could not track a human with nothing to be tracked. No, what caused his worry was the fact the submarine itself was a deep dark red in color, and was accented by glowing orange shapes all across its length, and a glowing sigil like an electroshocked seahorse at its midpoint.

It was a Fog Submarine, one based off the Gato class of US Subs if the shape was anything to go by.

Alex found himself unable to move for a moment, frozen in complete and utter horror. Did it notice him? Could it notice him? He was sure that it had sensors, but they would be set to locate other ships and subs. would a person be able to be caught on such sensors?

Then, to even more horror, Alex caught sight of another submarine further above them, one that was not glowing!

The fog Sub suddenly let out a pulse of sounds, probably akin to sonar, so loud that Alex felt like his head was ripping apart, and a second later the whoosh of an engine as a torpedo flew out from the front of the Fog Sub. The torpedo turned wide as soon as it went out a door of the mall, and began tracking the other submarine. it clearly sped up trying to get away, but a moment later the Fog torpedo struck the other submarine.

Alex knew he should have tried to swim away immediately but only when the telling visage of a corrosion field expanded over the centre of the submarine did he realize his mistake. The corrosion took a chunk out of the submarine, and a second later, it exploded, sending a shockwave through the water in every direction. Seeing it coming He tied to get away, but the shockwave was far faster, and sent Alex reeling backwards into the store. thrown against the wall Alex could feel not only his blood vessels tightening and bleeding out in pain, but his crippled shoulder shatter on impact with the wall, as well a his bad left arm attached to that shoulder, flail about and shatter on impact with the same wall.

"AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!" Alex roared in pain, unable to hold in his voice. He was surprised he wasn't dead already and could still feel his body, until he felt bile in his throat and coughed, Red splattering the inside of his helmet. No, not bile, blood. He could feel his lungs and heart beginning to rupture. He could feel his veins popping and constricting on a whim, and his vision blurred for a second. "Well shit, this is how I die?"

Then his vision came back allowing him to see mechanical arms coming out of the Fog Submarine, and reaching toward him, their tips covered in metal claws and spikes.

"Oh, that's how I die. . . . . . . Fuck."

Then stabbing pain assaulted his body, and everything went black.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 **Capture complete, holding target.**

 **Target has sustained damage during capture, Flooding target's body with nanomaterial to preserve targets life signs.**

 **Targets life signs stable. Target brought aboard complete.**

 **Alert, Targets body contains evidence of severe genetic and hormonal tampering. Further data unavailable at current time.**

 **Proceeding to Rendezvous point with target under medical stasis.**

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 **Subject transferred from Gato's hold to Medical hold. Subject is stable. Proceeding with in depth medical scans.**

 **scanning.**

 **scanning. . .**

 **scanning . . . . . . . .**

 **scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

 **Scanning complete. detailed scans of targets biology retrieved.**

 **Subject has 127 fractures along its bones, 5 bones complete shattered. Internal organs show extreme duress. Heart, Lungs, ruptured and 12 other organs severely compromised. brain activity minimal and undamaged.**

 **Subject body must be repaired before installation of Union core can proceed.**

 **Proceeding with Bodily repair. Injecting Nanomaterials.**

 **Repairing.**

 **repairing . . . .**

 **repairing . . . . . . . .**

 **Error. Error. Subjects upper left limb and adjoining bone, entire left arm and left Shoulder blade, completely shattered and devastated. Data shows past and concurrent injury. Bones cannot be repaired without impeding subjects projected capabilities.**

 **Options –**

 **Repair regardless of subject's potential.**

 **Discontinue Repairs. Junk subject.**

 **Remove effectively obsolete and worthless limb. Refashion limb of metal and connect to motor control via Union core.**

 **Processing . . . . . . . . .**

 **Third option selected for efficiency.**

 **Beginning removal of shattered bone and flesh . . . . . complete.**

 **Moving on. . . .**

 **Error. Subject body show signs of fractal genetic and hormonal tampering at an early stage. Data suggests this has cut initial projected lifespan and endangered hormonal production and body's functional balance.**

 **Calculating. . . . . Subjects hormonal levels are imbalanced at 49%Testosterone, 51% Estrogen. Data points to female variant of species.**

 **Error. inaccurate biology on subjects body compared to hormonal levels. Calculating . . . . . . . .**

 **Subject Biological Design to be rectified, Hormone imbalance corrected to assure correct bodily functions for union core to function properly when input in subject. Proceed?**

 **Y!**

 **Proceeding with hormone rebalancing and biological reconstruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Complete.**

 **Calculating subject current health.**

 **Internal organs – repaired.**

 **Waste arm and shoulder – Removed, enclosed and sealed, awaiting replacement. Replacement will be added alongside union core.**

 **Hormone levels – balanced. Testosterone 7%, Estrogen 93% hormone balance sufficient.**

 **External body – priority damage repaired, body restructured to match hormone levels and expected gender according to hormone levels. External body scarring cleaned but not completely removed.**

 **Brain activity remains nominal.**

 **Proceeding to Union core surgery and insertion. Prepping subject's body. . . . . . Retrieving Union core. . . . . . Proceeding with union core insertion . . . complete. Union core attached to upper spine and skull. Creating External limb replacement. . . . Complete. Proceeding with arm connection to brainwaves and nerves by way of union core. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Complete.**

 **Testing union core connectivity within body.**

 **Replacement limb – 100%.**

 **Brain – 99%**

 **Physical flesh and body -87 %**

 **Subject shows unusually high connectivity. Will monitor connectivity in future to prevent rejection of union core in body. If no rejection occurs, subject could be used as a test for increased nanomaterial input.**

 **Sealing subjects body. . . . . . . . Healing scarring from surgery . . . . . . . . Minimizing scar tissue on subject's torso as a . . . . . . Gift.**

 **Subject is ready for awakening and priming of situation by fleet head. Relocating Subject to rest point delta for anesthetic to run its course.**

 **Subjects estimated time of awaking. 0800 hours in one day.**

 **Report complete.**

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The sound of waves slapping against a solid object, but not sand or stone, echoed across Alex's ears. Opening his eyes he looked up to see a sheer roof of metal, and right beside it, blue sky that seemed to go on forever.

"What?" Alex muttered as he shifted his head around, finding his body sore and unwilling to immediately react to his intents. Glancing around he saw the open to his right, and a wall of steel to his left with a door further down. He was on some sort of balcony it appeared, and he was clearly on a ship but, "Who the hell puts a bed on a balcony where it's not protected from the elements?"

"The kind with bad taste!" Came the reply of a woman's voice. Turning to it Alex found a woman standing in the doorway. Her hair was a dirty brown in color, and tied into a braided bun at the back of her head. She wore what appeared to be a naval uniform of some kind, but it did not match any Alex knew of. It was a strange deep purple color with blue edging, and a strange symbol was on the left breast. She wore a pair of dress pants and shoes of the same color, and was very clearly a middle aged woman who aged well. "Careful," she suddenly said with a grin. "I don't swing that way."

Alex tried to get up to speak, but stopped when he propped himself up and felt a weight on his chest. he looked down and found that, not only was the not wearing anything on a bed without any covers, but there were a pair of mounds on his chest, that by all accounts should not have been there.

He stared in shock for a moment, making the woman realize something was up. "Confused? Hope said you might be, I'll go call her so stay here, alright?" and just like that, the woman was gone as quickly as she appeared.

Alex stared at the doorway for a moment before looking back down at his, or was it her now, chest. For many moments she simply stared, then slowly reached up with her right hand and touched her chest. An involuntary squeak left his/her lips as he. She pulled her hand away instantly. They were connected; it was not a bad joke or prank. They were connected.

Reaching down for a half second Alex let out a sigh of resignation. "It's gone. . . . Well that kills getting rid of my virginity, at least how I hoped." She muttered to herself before blushing and letting out another sigh. "Ugh I can't believe I just said that!"

*knock knock* "Excuse me, I won't ask if you are decent, because I know otherwise, but may I come in?"

Alex turn to see a woman standing beside the door, only her shoulder , arm and a bit of one leg visible, clearly leaning against the wall and doorframe, and not looking inside. Compared to the other woman entrance, this was downright polite and respectful! "Um, okay."

immediately the woman stepped from the wall turned and walked in. she was an older woman, likely in her fifty or sixties, but still had some youth showing through, she wore a pair of simple pants and a black shirt under a white and red lab coat, and her white hair was short yet well cared for. Amber eyes stared out from behind simple glasses, showing worry and care." Thank you," She said with a warm smile. "My name is Hope. I assume you have many questions?"

"Yeah, what the hell is going on?!" Alex exclaimed as he pointed to herself.

"Well, you have been taken and implanted with a Fog union core to facilitate-"

"No I mean, why am I a woman suddenly!" Alex yelled in exasperation.

Hope looked at him for a moment before nodding and closing her eyes. For many seconds it was like she was frozen, then her mouth twitched. "Got it, she said as she snapped her fingers, an orange hexagon appearing in the air between them, seemingly covered in text. She looked at it for a few seconds before scowling. "You were a man, not a woman?"

"Up until I woke up just now, yeah."

"Oh dear." Hope said with a sigh as she tapped the hexagon, causing it to spin in the air, and spin and spin. After a couple more spins she scowled and grabbed at it, dragging it through the air until it was in front of Alex. "when you were captured it was discovered your body had a severe hormonal imbalance, and clear details of very rough genetic tampering. Simply put you had more estrogen than testosterone in our body. It appears the medical ship that implanted you took it upon themselves to balance your chemistry while it fixed your body, not realising what was likely the real situation."

"What?"

Hope let out another sigh. "Simply put, you had genetic manipulation done to your body in the prenatal state, while in the womb. It is likely that your parent, probably your mother, wanted a daughter not a son, and tried to manipulate your gender with simple infusions of estrogen when you were forming. such an act was tried many times about two decades ago, but more times than not it would not change a child's gender and would simply cause birth defects or biological issues from the resulting hormone imbalance." she stopped and let out a sigh as she pulled the floating hexagon back to her and looked over it, scowling the entire time. "It seems that when you were repaired, the ship took liberty of removing with what it called unnecessary mutations to your body in comparison to your chemistry."

"Again, what?"

"The ship that repaired you made your body female as it figured you were supposed to be because of your hormone put it even more simply. You are now a woman, and with your hormones balanced, will always be."

". . . well fuck."

"Language young lady!" Hope snapped causing Alex to flinch.

"S-sorry. But I'm supposed to be a man!"

"Not anymore I'm afraid." Hope said as she clapped her hands together, creating a large nearly seven foot tall glowing hexagon that suddenly became reflective and leaned against the wall. "Here's all the proof you will need. Take a look."

Anxiously getting off the bed and stepping in front of the mirror, Alex could not believe what she saw. Standing in the reflation was a young woman, but it was also clearly himself. His face had changed little, and still had the burn scar up her left cheek, but now, her androgynous features looked, presentable. Her skinny body was accented by slight curves in the waist, and slightly widening hips. Long legs went down from the hips, and on her tight thin chest there were two modest breasts, B, or perhaps C cups in size. She could make out her burn scars down her entire left side, but they looked muted, as if they had been cleaned and limited in their severity. Her hair was longer as well, reaching down to her shoulder blades, far smoother than it had ever before been. "Well shit, I look good." She muttered as her eyes drifted to the one other thing she noticed. Her left shoulder, and her entire left arm, had been removed and replaced by one that looked mechanical, like a robotic arm from an old movie. "Um, what happened to my arm?" She asked as she raised it effortlessly, moving the individual fingers one at a time with flawless precision."

"Ah yes." Hope said as she glanced at the small hexagon. "Just before you were captured your body was hit by an explosive pressure wave. It ruptured most of your organs, and sent you flying backwards into a wall. Your shoulder blade, which apparently was previously damaged and not healed correctly, shattered instantly, as did your arm. They were removed and replaced for quote unquote, 'efficiency'."

"I see." Alex said as she looked over the arm a bit more, and then looked back at the mirror. He had never seen a woman's body so perfectly before, and she could not deny she had a beauty to her but. . . "So my arm is no longer crippled but, you sure I can't go back to being a man?"

Hope shook her head. "The medical ship that did the operation didn't even notice you were supposed to be a man. To fix your internal organs your body was heavily flooded with nanomaterial, and took to them very well. In addition your hormones have been rebalanced. I could arguably turn you to a man, but you would look like a woman, and it would take many weeks to undo what has been down to your body." Hope explained as her expression turned grim. "Additionally, if you became a man again, you would die because the union core would reject your body completely."

"Oh I-" Alex stopped mid sentence as his mind began thinking over what she said and began realizing something. Glowing hexagons. Medial ships. Union core? "um, I'm sure I had been killed by a fog submarine, where am i?"

Hope let out a sigh. "little slow on the uptake hmm? You're currently on the Fog Hybrid Carrier, Intrepid."

"Then, then you're a-"

"Fog Hybrid Medical ship, Hope."

" . . . I'm on a fog ship. In the middle of the ocean?"

"Yes."

. . . you said I was, what, implanted with a, union core?"

"Yes."

"And that means what?"

Hope leaned backed up to the doorframe and reached around, pulling a bag into view before tossing it onto the floor. "There's some clothing, unless you like standing around in the nude. You know of the mental models right?"

"The human look some Fog ships have taken, right. Yeah I've heard of them." Alex said as she opened the bag and began sifting through the clothing within, including a few types of undergarments. she looked up at Hope uncertainly, "Um . . . ."

"You're stuck like that, get used to it." Hope replied with a sigh. "A mental model is a body that allows the fog to converse and socialize in a more human way. It helps them understand us. a while back though one of them, I'm not sure who, had the brilliant idea of conscripting willing, and more often unwilling, humans into the fog. The Union core is like a Fog's core, but it is surgically implanted in a human. It allows them to manipulate nanomaterial to an extent and control a ship."

"So they force people to work for the fog basically by making them, part fog?" Ale asked, knowing how silly it sounded as she finished putting on a pair of loose black pants and grabbed a black bra, trying to figure out how it was supposed to go on.

"Ugh, here I'll help you, but you'll have to get used to it." Hope said as she walked over and began showing Alex how to put it on as she spoke. "That is correct. Hybrids still have their human's minds, and mostly human bodies, but our bodies have been flooded with Nanomaterials from the union cores. If they are removed, even successfully, the nanomaterial in your bodies will have no idea what will do and we will die from them beginning to clog your arteries and veins. Hybrids have ships made, but we are expected to follow orders and dereliction of duty is met with extreme prejudice."

"So was basically fog hybrids forced to fight our own people?" Alex simplified it as Hope stepped back and Alex quickly threw on a tank top, seeming unwilling to look at her undergarment.

Hope hated admitting this part. Everyone got to it eventually, and the realization had broken a few people that she had met. "Yes, we hybrids are half fog, and will be forced to fight humans for the fog.

Alex brought up her obviously synthetic arm and looked it over. With the loss of the seas, and resources sometimes thin, prosthetics were rare unless they could be afforded, as such when her shoulder had been smashed, nothing could be done but let it heal which was what led to its previously crippled look. But now . . . "Heh, they can totally repair my body after I have ruptured organs, replace my completely worthless arm and make me stronger and better through nanomaterials and all I need to do is fight against humans?" A wicked grin spread across Alex's face. "I'm still unsure of being a stuck as a woman, but it beats being dead, and I've got nothing against showing those worthless bastards their place! when do I start?"

Hope looked at the one before in surprise. "Even with the union cores making the ability to ignore orders difficult, most people showed at least some resentment for the situation, if not downright anger and disdain with having to fight humans. She had seen people that had taken it better than others, or those who adapted quicker, but she had yet to see someone who seemed so willing to kill their own kind in an instant. "We need to have you meet the leader of this fleet; she will decide when you start." Hope finally said as she walked out the door and turned around. shoes, boots or sandals?"

"What? Oh, shoes please." Alex replied, allowing Hope to pull out a three different pairs of shoes. one was very girly, another looked formal, and the third looked like a cross between runners and hiking boots. Putting the third pair on she watched as the duffel of clothing morphed into a silver glowing mist and slithered own the hall. Wearing her clothing suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.

"Our clothing is made of nanomaterial, but if they are being worn they can only be manipulated by yourself. So you can experiment with different style of clothing when on your own. Can you walk?"

"No, I've just been standing here struggling to put clothing on, there's no way I could possibly walk now!" Alex replied sarcastically, looking herself over in the mirror. She was now wearing a simple pair of black pants, a black tank top and black shoes. The barest bit of her belly show between them, but she didn't want to try manipulating anything until she got a better feel for it. Ending up naked out of nowhere would be less than perfect after all.

Hope glared at her, "Alright fine miss smart ass. Come along then, I'll show you to Brisky and then you can move on." She said with a huff as she capped her hand, removing the reflective hexagon, and then walked briskly out of the room.

"Ah, wait up!" Alex called as he ran out after Hope, finding that the slight sways of her hips made walking feel strange and alien to her, slowing her speed more than she thought possible.

Following Hope do the halls and up a flight of stairs and then through another short hall, the two of them came onto the deck of the intrepid, and Alex realized that it was just as much a fog ship as any other. From inside it had been clean and organized but on the surface it had the same glowing shapes and marking as other fog ships. dark blue with green glowing markings in Intrepid's case.

Alex could see the tower of another ship right beside intrepid, but could not tell what it was, though she realized that at the edge of it stood a woman in a uniform, the same woman as before.

"Yo, so how is our new sister in arms?" The asked as she turned and looked directly at Hope.

"She's doing fine intrepid. Is Brisky ready for her?"

"No idea, haven't seen her on her decks." Intrepid explained as Hope and Alex made it up to Intrepid, and became able to see that the ship beside them was a large battleship, one whose design was clearly not based on American ideals. it was rough and dangerous looking, covered in guns, and its fog coloring of a dark red, accented by brighter glowing purple sections made it ominous looking. "You could try the concept comms though. "Intrepid said with a grin that made her suddenly feel far younger than she looked.

"No, I refuse to use that to speak to her unless necessary." Hope said with a sigh as she judged the distance between the ships, then clapped her hands twice, forming orange hexagons across, like jumping platforms over the waters below.

"Why do you still clap to make things happen?" Intrepid asked with a smile. "Just will it."

"Unlike those of you who are younger, I do not have the instant adaptability to use nanomaterials so simply!" Hope retorted with a scowl before looking to Alex. Cross over to Brisky's ship, once you get onboard she'll likely talk to you and explain everything, alright?" Hope explained as Intrepid began walking away, waving as she said something akin to good luck

"Like, jump between them?" Alex asked as she looked over the ship, not noticing Hope creating more hexagons so that the hexes were right against each other and creating a solid rampway. "Is this, brisky the hybrid controlling that ship?"

"No, she's the fog controlling that ship, and our direct boss. And under no circumstances should you mention having been a man. If you do I cannot guarantee your survival. Understand?"

Alex nodded as she took a step onto the first Hex, testing its strength. It felt as solid as steel or concrete.

"Good get over there. Then we can talk afterwards." Hope said as she took a few steps back.

Alex took another step forward and looked out at the massive red machine of death before her, feeling a strange sensation at the back of her neck. "As I look into the valley of death, is this nerves, or excitement I feel?" she asked herself with a grin, then surely strode forward.


	2. Chapter 2

As Alex strode toward the battleship, she became aware of two things. One, it was absolutely massive with enough firepower to level a small fleet all on its own. And two, she was nearly one hundred percent sure she was being watched. This proved itself true when she reached the end of Hope's walkway, and dropped onto the deck of the battleship.

Suddenly, she was no longer standing on a battleship, but instead was standing at the edge of a covered gazebo made of carved marble. In its centre sat a ornate filigree table with a pot on it and two chairs at the table.

In the chair furthest from her sat a woman who looked young, maybe twenty. She had dark brown hair, cut immaculately perfect to not be in the way, and her brown eyes looked at her like a predator might prey. Her clothing consisted of a long cream colored skirt and a dark red long sleeved blouse. Overtop of these however, sat a couple plates of shaped metal over the skirt, and a metal pauldron over her right shoulder, both of which looked to be made of dark purple metal. Hanging from her back was what appeared to be a large sickle, and atop her head was simple slanted cap, looking like it was made of heavy thick leather. The woman looked terrifying and after a second of glancing at Alex, looked at the empty chair, clearly telling her to sit.

So Alex sat, and then realized the pot on the table was a pot of tea being brewed In a heavy metal pot, and two cups of dented metal sat around it, with a plate covered in jam to one side. Alex opened her mouth to speak, bit the woman was faster.

"You have had the basic situation that you are in explained to you, correct?" The woman asked her voice lower than one would expect, and as hard as wrought iron.

"Um, yes. Hope explained to me the situation. I am now a Fog hybrid, and will be made to serve."

The woman nodded and looked at Alex's arm. "I was informed of your genetic and physical difficulties, and the decision to rectify them. Will the modifications and repairs to your body pose a problem?"

"Um, no, but I think I may need to get used to my, body." Alex said, remembering to not say she had been male until just recently. Very, recently.

"That is fine. You will learn quickly." She said coolly. "I am the fog battleship Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya, Head of the Fog's Northern pacific fleet. I am your superior, orders that I give will be followed. Failure to comply will be met harshly. Understood?"

"Y-yes." Alex replied, glancing around at the place they were in, trying to figure it out.

Apparently it was obvious.

"We are currently communicating with the Concept Comms system. It is the quickest way to have private conversation in real, or accelerated time. You will be given a tutorial on its running from hope in the near future. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand, there are more important things to deal with first I'm guessing."

Oktyabrskaya raised a brow to Alex at that and then smirked. "You appear to be different than other hybrid I have spoken to. You are, nervous is the word I believe, but it is for a different reason than usual. Why?"

Alex was silent for a moment before opening her mouth. "My life has been a series of getting abused and used. Getting as far from humans as possible is like a gift to me," Alex said as she lifted up her mechanical arm, "And this make it even better. I've been fixed, and made better than I was. At the very least I need to repay that. If killing worthless humans who think they know best is the way to that, then I'm all for it!" Alex finished, nearly with a snarl of hate, before she realized how she sounded and leaned back, looking at Oktyabrskaya apologetically.

"I see. To put it simply, you have no qualms about serving the fleet then, correct?"

"That is correct." Alex said instantly, glancing at the tea and risking the act of taking a cup and pouring herself one. Oktyabrskaya did not react at all.

"This is good then. Other hybrid that have been inducted have been . . . . . resistant to their situation." Oktyabrskaya said as she poured herself a cup of tea as well. After taking a sip a trip of clipboards suddenly appeared on the table to one side. "Pick the ship that will be formed for you."

Alex grabbed the clipboards, realizing they were made of holographic pans, and looked them over, eyes widening at the variety of choice.

Tribal class destroyer – Equipped with 6 small scale dual purpose photon turrets and four quad torpedo launchers. Small missile armament. High stealth, limited scanning ability. Capable of limited submergence.

Stalinets class submarine – equipped with 6 torpedo tubes, 2 deck based photon turrets. Moderate missile armament. Capable of deep submergence, high stealth and high scanning capability

Minotaur class light cruiser – Equipped with three triple photon turrets, 5 dual purpose pulse turrets, moderate number of anti air guns, two articulated tri torpedo tubes. Moderate missile armament. Limited stealth and moderate scanning ability.

"This isn't even a contest." Alex said with a grin. "Tribal destroyers were okay, but will fall to any decent firepower. Subs are sneaky as hell, but I don't think I'd have the patience to sit and wait for hours on end under the water. I choose the minotaur!" Alex explained as she held up the clipboard with a smile.

"You explain why you do not pick two, but not why you pick the one. Please explain reasoning."

"It's easy. The Minotaur is fast, reliable, and according to this has a high variety of weaponry. With it I could adapt to various strategies, and adaptation is key to survival!"

Oktyabrskaya Looked at Alex for a moment and then nodded. "Very well. You shall be designated as-"

"Scylla."

" . . . pardon?"

"There are already numerous Minotaur class fog cruisers in service, correct?"

"In the entire fog, yes. One in my fleet, now two. why?"

"If this fleet ever does combined action, the chance of the same names popping up could happen, and it could cause problems. So why not allow an alternate name for a hybrid, also as a way to differentiate me from the regular Minotaur classes?"

" . . . . . . . . Reasoning is acceptable and will be allowed." Oktyabrskaya said after a few moments, the clipboards disappearing as quickly as they had appeared. "From this point on you are Minotaur class light cruiser, Scylla. The nanomaterial for your ship have been prepared. Board Gato, and she will deliver you to them. Once there, recall your ship while touching the nanomaterials. the union core shall facilitate its creation."

And just like that, Scylla was kicked from the communication, and found herself standing on the deck of Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya.

"Okay, getting kicked from a lobby in real life, that will take some getting used to." Scylla muttered as she walked to the front of the ship and looked around. To her right was intrepid's giant mass, with Hopes much smaller form squeezed between them. She could also see various other destroyers and some cruisers sitting around. A cool breeze blew and a moment later she saw a submarine come up out of the water right in front of Oktyabrskaya, telling her that neither was moving, or the sub would quickly get sheared in half. The submarine was more angular than she expected, and was a dark purple in color with glowing shaped and symbols in a bright green color. Even stringer was that a wire railing surrounded its upper hull area.

{Get on.} Came a voice, slightly odd, like Scylla was hearing it in her own head.

"Um, was that you, Gato?" Scylla asked as she looked down at the Submarine unsurely.

{Yes. do you need platforms to descend? Confirm.} Came the voice again.

Scylla thought about it for a second then grinned. "No, I'm feeling adventurous." She said, right before she grabbed the edge of Oktyabrskaya, and then vaulted over it. She dropped down instantly and before she could even call out, landed on the edge of the Sub, almost falling off of it. "Well, that worked, and I barely even felt that!" Scylla commented, surprised that she didn't feel afraid or in any pain when she had basically jumped almost two stories down.

"Good for you. do not hurt yourself, it would impede the fleets actions." said a young looking ,maybe seventeen year old woman, with long red hair who wore a full body scuba suit as she sat on one of the deck guns of the submarine, looking extremely calm. "I am the Fog Submarines Gato. I have been ordered to show you to your building sight, and tasked with then making you understand basic movement and controls. Confirm?"

"Um, yes?"

" Confirmed. We shall move to the position at one quarter speed." Gato said as the submarine began moving away from Oktyabrskaya, turning slowly to not hit her, or intrepid.

As they moved slowly away from Oktyabrskaya, Scylla found herself looking at Gato, and after a moment Gato looked at her. "Is there something you wish to ask of me? Confirm."

"Ah, I apologize. I was just curious why you are wearing a scuba suit for your mental model is all."

Gato looked at Scylla and nodded, the gun she was on suddenly turning a it so to reorient her body to face her. "I only recently acquired a maiden plug-in and the related mental model. I discovered such clothing when I caught a human using such clothing to dive deep for a time that surpassed what was originally believed to be possible for humans. It appeared to be an intelligent design for clothing, and appropriate for one such as myself who submerges to strike."

". . . you decided to wear a scuba suit because you saw me wearing one when you captured me?" Scylla exclaimed in surprise when she connected the dots.

"Yes."

"Oh, I see. Okay I guess." Scylla said as she walked to the edge of Gato's hull where the railing was and leaned against it, looking out ahead of them as a gust of wind blew at her hair. The wind was cool, something normal when one considered how far north they were, but at the same time, Scylla barely felt it, she was too focused on what was ahead of them; A barely noticeable sandbar that seemed to shine like crystal. "Is that it?"

"is what it? Confirm." Gato replied as she looked at Scylla neutrally.

"The sandbar ahead, is that where we are heading?"

" Confirmed. It is indeed our location of travel." Gato said as the gun she sat on shifted and pointed ahead, toward the silver sandbar. "We shall arrive in a couple minutes. Be patient."

Scylla nodded, never looking away from the bar as it slowly drew closer. A ship that was her own, a warship that was as much her as her own mind. the idea of it, of controlling such an advanced piece of machinery, hardware, and such a powerful weapon, simply by being connected to it and thinking, the idea was amazing, and she couldn't wait to get a feel for it!

Three minutes later Gato stopped just offside from the sandbar, and formed a stairway of holo panels up from her hull, over the wire fence, and then down to the sandbar. "When you get down, allow me a moment to move out of the way, lest my hull impeded your creation. Confirm."

"Alright, just tell me when to start then!" Scylla replied as she stepped up onto the panels, and quickly ascended then descended, landing on the sand with a muffled thump that sounded heavier than she expected. Was her arm now really that heavy? Or was it her whole body that was now heavy?

{Confirm.} Came Gato's reply as she began moving away from the sandbar, making Scylla feel rather lonely suddenly. Luckily Gato only moved about fifty meters away before her voice rang out again. {You are free to begin when ready. touch the nanomaterial while visualizing your form.}

Scylla grinned madly as she dropped to her knees and buried both hands into the silver sand, remembering the look of the ship, the feel its image had brought her, and the list of its armaments and capabilities. The sand reacted immediately, the entire sandbar lighting up like a mass of LED lights as it slowly began to snake out from the sandbar and into the ocean.

the hull formed first, followed by the superstructure and rigging, then finally the upper echelons of the structure and the weaponry. When it was done and stopped glowing, Scylla found that the ship's hull was a dark green, so dark she almost thought it was black for a moment, but nothing about it was glowing. Did something go wrong?

{You must board yourself to finish the creation and connection to your core.} Came Gato's voice, as if she had been reading Scylla's mind.

"Okay, how do I do that?" Sylla asked. After a second she early smacked herself in realization. Gato was almost fifty metres away from her, there was no way she would hear regular speech! Thinking about it for a second Scylla concentrated and then tried to project her thoughts, thinking of it like a cell signal. {How do I get onto it? it is roughly fifteen meters from the sandbar. I'd swim, but I'm not sure if I can with a metal arm.}

{From creating your ship, your union core should now be operating at full power. create your own holographic panels and walk onto it. confirm.}

{How do I create them?}

{Create them.}

{um . . . }

{creating them is a basic capability of the fog and an act that required minimal processing power. explaining such an act will prove difficult to make it sensible to human logic.}

{I'll . . . just give it shot then.} Scylla said as she open her eyes and looked upon her ship, or herself. Was it herself in a sense? Or was that once she boarded it? She shook her head and walked up to the water, crouching down and running her still organic hand through it. The water was cool, but not cold. It would have been perfect for a swim any other time, but not now.

Then she remembered what Intrepid had said to Hope, and grinned as he stood up. Focusing her thoughts on it for a moment she pointed a finger at the water in front of her, then dragged it toward the ship, thinking about the holographic panels appearing. And they did. as she moved her finger, a long line of connected panels formed for her, slightly angling up until they reached up to the ship's edge.

placing a foot on it Scylla tested the panels strength, and finding it strong, then took a stride forward and bolted up the panels towards her ship, the panels disappearing behind her as she stepped off of them.

Reaching the end she jumped off and landed on the deck of her ship, and it reacted instantly. The ship let out a strange drone, energy seemed to flood across it and through Scylla herself, and then finally the ship's markings appeared. While the hull was a nearly black green, the glowing marking appeared in a dark teal color, forming shapes not dissimilar from knife and fire scars across the ship. the Symbol at the front, and a smaller version of it right under the bridge, looked like a triangle made of knife slashes, and within it was an arrangement of three serpentine heads, all of them with mouths open as if screaming for prey. It looked badass!

Running down the length of her ship and glancing at each and every weapon and the ships sleek design and shape, Scylla did not notice Gato move up beside her until she had stopped, her shadow covering a small section of deck. "It appears the creation of your ship, and its connection to your core, proceeded smoothly." Gato stated as the gun she was still sitting on turned until she was looking at Scylla, and the gun was pointed right at her. The fact that Gato constantly moved the gun to point at others when talking was a bit disconcerting.

"I think it has. I feel odd though, like I've got way more energy than I did a few seconds ago. Like my mind is running a mile a minute!" Scylla exclaimed with a smile, reveling in the strange feeling of power and freedom. It was odd, but wonderful!

"Your body took to the nanomaterial better than most did according to the report. Resonance between the union core, the ship and yourself is likely the reason for the feeling, and the speed of your thoughts means that your union core is amplifying your innate processing capability to an extent." Gato Explained, kicking her legs about beneath her.

"Sounds good then. When do we start those tutorials?"

Gato, much to Scylla's Surprise, very clearly smiled, her eyes seeming to flash for a second as she did. "We start immediately upon your readiness. Confirm."

"I'm ready!"

"Readiness confirmed. Follow my path." Gato said as her sub suddenly began speeding away, salt spray kicking up into the air as she went clearly much faster than before.

Scylla grinned as she began figuring out how to control herself, and found that thoughts and intents worked rather well but took a second to go through and begin happening. To rectify this, and allow her to easier understand the situation onboard her own ship, Scylla formed a half dozen Holo panes, each of them showing a different facet of the ship. One showed an overhead map that marked her location, as well as the locations of other ships, as well as her direction of travel and a small compass. Another held the image of the ship, capable of showing damaged sections, as well as the relative speed. Others held weapon systems, subsystems and the like. She even found while making these that her weapons could be augmented and altered, and as she went to fiddle with them, Gato's voice rang out over the comms.

{Do not alter your base weaponry without first requesting permission from the fleet flagship.}

{So they can be altered if allowed then?}

{Correct, however leave it until later. altering weaponry in training will invite disaster.} Gato explained as she came to a stop a couple hundred metres ahead of Scylla. {We have arrived. do you understand basics of movement now?}

{I believe so, yes}

{Good. Maneuvering drills will commence.} Gato said, just as a series of markers and buoys appeared out of the water, bobbing impatiently. {Maneuver around these markers in the fashion displayed.}

A second later another panel appeared around Scylla, showing her the path to take. {understood. is this trial timed?}

{Negative, you will be graded on maneuvering skills, prowess and how tight and loose your Turing in is. Confirm when ready}

{I am ready, beginning trial!} Scylla communicated as she put full power to her engines. coming around the first marker was simple, as was the second and third, but as she continued, the turns got tighter and quicker, and it became difficult to ascertain their position as she swung around them, inevitably losing sight of them around her ships own structure. "I need a better vantage point!" Scylla growled to herself as she make a line of holostairs up from the deck to the top of the ships structure, quickly running up while the ship made a lazy turn around an easier buoy. Once at the top she glanced around and grinned at the perfect vantage point. She could sense innately where her ship was and at what angle, but it still made thing easier to actually be able to see the sea around her.

Coming around the last buoy she found Gato to her starboard side pointing directly at her, with two water plumes careening toward her. {Dodge} was all Gato said as suddenly as she had been noticed.

Scylla glanced at the two torpedoes. If she kept going forward they would clearly strike her dead on, but if she turned to her port side away from them, they could still hit her in the engine. The only option was to turn straight toward them, and move between the two of them, hoping they were not the homing torpedoes she had heard about once. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained!" She said with a grin as she sharply turned, causing the whole ship to shift and angle to the starboard side, making it difficult to stand.

In the last second she straightened out and hoped, giving small changes to her rudder to keep on target as the waves got a little larger. a second later she watched both torpedoes reach her, and go by on either side of her ship, harmlessly drifting off into the water and exploding when both ended up hitting buoys behind her. " Eh? They had actual explosives In them?" Scylla exclaimed in sudden surprise and fear.

{Of course.} Gato Said over comms as she moved beside Scylla, the gun turn to her with Gato upon it. "Your maneuvering was not bad. Good for beginner, is the term I believe. Now we move onto combat controls."

"So, will I be shooting targets then?"

"No. you will be shooting Active Decoy's with viable weaponry." Gato explained as she suddenly fired of a pair of torpedoes into the distance. as soon as they exploded though, a cloud of mist appeared, and out of each cloud formed two identical copies of Gato, only without her sitting on the one deck gun.

"Whoa, Fog Subs can make clones of themselves?"

"Active Decoy's."

"What is the difference?"

"Passive Decoys are small charges that imitate a submarines signature. Active decoys are controlled ,and can operate as sacrificial scouts, and harassment units. They can take only little punishment, but can have a small active armament. Those two active decoys are armed each with one active deck gun and will act as your opponents once remove myself from the practice area. Familiarize yourself with your armaments while I move into position." Gato said as she sped off, moving behind Scylla and heading to what remained of the nearby sandbar from the looks of it.

With a coupled seconds to herself, Scylla decided to do as suggested and looked oar her weapons.

Three triple barrel photon turrets, which judging from their information had a liner firing pattern.

she had a number of designated anti air laser turrets and also had five dual purpose photon guns, who's firing angles had arcs similar to kinetic shells. They could be fired at air or ground targets, and would be excellent for sieging land based areas of arcing shots at people over a greater distance.

On each side of her hull at the midship point she had a Tri-Torpedo tube launcher on an articulated arm, which would allow torpedoes to be fired in nearly any direction, and in single shots or a three shot salvo.

And lastly she had numerous missile tubes across her hull, eighteen in total, with three of them directly behind the main structure of the ship, and looking slightly larger than the others. It seemed the missiles could be made to be explosive or corrosive, and could even go underwater to an extent if required.

"I wonder if I could make alternate missile types in the future?" Scylla hummed to herself as ideas began forming in her head.

{I have reached the designated position. once your Klein field is operational, the trial shall start.}

{What are the rules for engagement?} Scylla asked as she slid the holo-panes with the Klein fields controls slaved to it into easy view, and prepared to activate it as soon as she got an answer.

{All armaments are allowed for use in destroying the Decoys as effectively as possible. usage of Corrosive warheads is disallowed however. Activate Klein field to begin operation. Loss will be confirmed when your klein field reaches seventy percent saturation.}

Scylla smiled as she tapped the pane, setting the Klein field to slowly from around her. A two on one combat test where she could use anything but corrosion weapons. Fog ships were known or being very direct in their tactics, if they could be called as such, so how could she use that to her advantage?

Grinning she gunned her engines to full just before her klein field hit full strength, and began moving directly towards the decoys. They both began firing their deck guns at her, the energetic shot striking her field in a shower of light and noise.

In response scylla fired all of her forward guns at one decoy, while she let out a salvo of torpedoes out at the other, and launched half of her missile tubes, letting them soar high into the sky.

The decoys, expectantly, turned to ty to dodge her fire and torpedoes, making her grin in delight. Her missiles came down on the one submarine, striking where it was turning into and breaking through its shieling, and the other ship was deflecting her battery fire, so she pulled her rudder to the side and tightly twisted her ship to bring all of her turrets to bear. She waited half a second to sync her batteries and guns, then let loose with a full broadside from her main and secondary guns, a veritable wall of photon fire. The broadside struck the second decoy all at once, compelling overwhelming its barriers and ripping into its structure. It got one more shot of before it exploded and broke in two. Looking back at the other decoy, it was not sinking or destroyed, but its one deck gun had been damaged, leaving it vulnerable and unable to fire as it repaired. A quick turning of her turrets and one volley later put an end to that.

{Combat trial is over. report to my position for debrief. Confirm} Gato called over, the two decoys dissolving into dust as fire consumed them.

{Be there in a moment.} Scylla replied, grinning as she swiped half her control panels away and sat down on the top of her ship, moving it at half speed to Gato's location. As she pulled up beside Gato she jumped down from the top of the ship, landing without any assistance and no ill feelings or pain, though her left hand did tap against the deck as she landed, making a horrible clank before she stood up to see Gato, and her turret pointing at her.

"Humans value how they feel at certain situation. How do you feel now that you understand your ship and have utilized its weapons? Confirm."

Scylla grinned as she stopped to the edge of her deck and leaned on the railing. "I feel great actually, like this is what was meant for me! I can't wait to get to work for real!"

"Confirmed. information sent to Fleet head. Moving onto Debrief. Missile and torpedo usage adequate for first time use. In future know to program homing missiles and corrosion warheads for maximum strike radius and number of hits."

"I'll remember to prepare some homing programs as soon as I have chance then." Scylla replied.

"Good. Why did you turn to and show your length to the second decoy? Confirm."

"To have all my weapons capable of being fired at once. Just firing with my forward guns was inefficient, and a broadside felt more likely to break the barriers quickly."

". . . Logic is adequate. Remember however that doing so opens you to torpedo attack."

"Yes, but I knew you did not have them on the decoys. In future I will be more careful though, just in case."

"That is good." Gato said as her gun suddenly turned to point at the fleet in the distance, "We have been pinged to return to the fleet for immediate departure."

"For what?"

"Human contacts further north. A splinter fleet will be sent to deal with them then return. Come."

"Right behind you!"

It too only a couple minutes of return to the fleet using full speed, and once they arrived, Gato pointed at Intrepid, just as a stairway of panels formed down from her flight deck all theway to the water's surface.

As Scylla jumped off her ship and ran up them she found Gato floating herself up on a panel of her own making and scowled. "Cheater."

"We were taking part in a game with rules? confirm."

". . . Never mind." Scylla said with a sigh as she got to the top of the flight deck, not even feeling winded.

On the flight deck was a gathering of over a dozen people. Intrepid, Hope and Oktyabrskaya being the only ones that Scylla recognized though. As she and Gato approached Oktyabrskaya the fog glanced up at them and, ever so slightly, smiled. "Every member of the fleet is now accounted for. We begin the briefing."

as soon as the words left her mouth, everyone found themselves In the concept comms, though Oktyabrskaya was the only one sitting and the table was against a column. On the other side of the table stood intrepid, a worried look painting her face as she let out a sigh and stepped forward. "so much as I know we'd like to get acquainted with those of us new to the fleet, we will have to put that on hold as a situation has arisen. Ships from Russia have been discovered to be trying to reach North America by following the ice line far north. They try this every few months, but we need to stop them regardless."

Nearly everyone In the Comms room shifted and looked around, some muttering to those near them, while others let out exasperated sighs or complained something about damned Russians. Strangely it was the ones who looked Russian that were saying that.

"Those of you who have been here for a while know this, but for those of you who are new, in situation like these we'll first ask for volunteers. so does anyone want to volunteer to go and, deal with these ships."

Many people shivered at the words. The water up north was frigid and fraught with hazards of ice on the water, and poor visibility from snow, sleet and raging seas. Nobody was worried for their own safety; they just knew that if they blew apart and anyone survived their attacks, they'd freeze to death in minutes.

"I'll go." Scylla said as she took a step forward away from the half circle of standing people. Everyone else began murmuring to each other, and some even looked at her with strange gazes.

"You're new, are you not? Do you even know how to fire your guns?" one girl said as she stepped forward. She was a tall woman in her mid-twenties with broader shoulders than one would expect. Her skin was slightly tanned and covered in small scratches and scars, and she wore heavy pants and a thick fur jacket over her upper body, though it was left open to show that she was wearing only a sports style bra underneath. her hair was also dark black with a strangely red tint to it in places.

"Yeah I'm new. Names Scylla, Minotaur class light cruiser." Scylla said as she stepped closer to the woman and introduced herself.

"Hmph. Molotov, Kirov Class heavy cruiser." Molotov introduced herself with a scowl as she looked at Scylla. "What happened to your arm? and what's with your name?"

"Oh this?" Scylla asked as she raised her left mechanical arm, making sure everyone could see it clearly. "It was replaced with something better due to an accident, or perhaps you could call it, providence?" Scylla said with a grin. "Does it matter? Or are you worried for those of us who are new?"

"I'm worried about those who think they know better and have something to prove. Especially those younger than me who don't understand the situation." Molotov Explained as she stepped right up to Scylla and looked down at her.

"I doubt you're much older than me, just tall. Why not do this the right way though, we both go, and we can both see just how ready or unready we both are. well?"

Molotov looked at her for a moment and smiled. "Alright, you've got an agreement. I'll go as well!"

Oktyabrskaya nodded and then looked a Gato, who took a step forward. " Gato will lead the splinter fleet that goes north. One more should go as well to make four as a minimum.

"I'll come along. . . I guess." Said a girl, maybe seventeen with long white hair done into four individual braids. Her eyes were a deep icy blue, and her expression was clearly relaxed and calm.

" Very well," Intrepid said with a sigh. "Gato will lead the excursion comprised of herself, Scylla, Molotov and Mobile. Leave as soon as you are ready. Everyone else is dismissed, return to your regular duties and tasks." with that the concept comms suddenly ceased and they were back on Intrepid's flight deck, the throng of women scattering with startling speed.

"Meet one kilometer north of fleet. Confirm." Gato said as she walked away.

As Scylla turned to go to her own ship her shoulder was grabbed and she was spun around, finding Molotov standing before her. "Do not fuck this up, understand? Most of us are not happy, or at least resistive to the situation, but understand there is little to be done for it. No one wants to die though. If you endanger us, I will make you bleed for it, understand?"

"Relax, I have no intention of dying." Scylla said as she noticed Mobile just standing at the edge of the flight deck. "Is your ship just below?"

Mobile shook her head and pointed out to sea, to a cruiser at the edge of the fleet, easily half a kilometer away if not more.

"Oh, need a lift then?"

"No, I'll walk." Mobile said as she suddenly ran off through the air, panels forming barely fast enough under her feet to move across. "Whoa."

"Mobile has been part of this fleet longer than I have, and she's probably the most relaxed person I have seen with the situation being what it is. "Molotov said with a sigh as she walked over to the edge of the deck. "Hurry up and meet us where Gato specified. Don't be late!" and then she walked off the edge toward a different ship In the distance, though Scylla could not tell which one.

" . . . . Right, I have a feeling I'm going to like her, or hate her by the time this mission is done." Scylla said as she ran across the deck and jumped down to where her ship was.

Less than half an hour later the four of them were off to the north, moving to find their prey. Their formation was similar an arrowhead. Gato held the centre, staying half submerged and acting as sonar for the group, while Molotov was in the front, with Mobile and Scylla to each side. It was also at this time that Gato explained just how far north they were going, and that the excursion would take anywhere from two to three days, one way, depending on how much the Russian ships made them work.

After almost seven hours of near total silence, as twilight settled over the ocean and the cool nighttime breeze began blowing, Scylla could not stand it anymore and leaned back on the top of her ship where she had been sitting. {So Mobile, how long have you been like this?}

{Really, that's what you open a conversation with?} Molotov Butted in.

{What am I supposed to say to start up conversation? Would you prefer how many human ships have you sunk?}

{No! that is just-}

{roughly over a year. and seven.} Mobile suddenly said over comms.

{I, what?} Scylla asked in temporary confusion.

{She just answered your question. both of them} Molotov said with an angry sigh.

"So you've been a hybrid for just over a year, and have sunk seven human ships In that time?}

{Yes, seven ships sunk by hand and will. five frigates, one destroyer and one cruiser. my turn for a question. are you really a Minotaur class?}

{. . yes.}

{Then why does your name not match the names of any Minotaur class?}

{I was wondering that as well.} Molotov muttered.

{I asked for a different name when I chose my ship with Brisky. I just figured it'd be easier to not have a name that other people could have too.}

{I see. . . .Can you not set up Concept communications?} Mobile asked after a pause.

{Ah hahaha, I literally woke up just this morning, was given the situation by Hope, was dragged out to a sandbar to make my ship and get harassed by Gato. this is day one for me!} Scylla said with a smile on her face, though they could not see it over comms. {Honestly just the fact I can create holopanes and communicate like this feels a bit hilarious.}

{It's your first day and you volunteer for a kill mission?! oh for the love of- you are insane!} Molotov nearly growled.

{. . . . move yourselves inside your ships structures if you are going to talk or go into concept comms.} Came Gato's voice suddenly. {The weather is getting colder and your bodies while infused with nanomaterial, are still human and affected by the cold.}

{You heard the boss lady. head inside and make sure your cabin is producing heat. make yourself a bed too, unless you want to sleep on the floor. I'll form a Concept comm between the three of us in a few moments so we can continue this, enlightening talk.}

Scylla laughed to herself at that as the communication cut. climbing down from the top she went into the bridge of her ship. A very empty bridge. She had already looked over every inch of her ship during the voyage thus far. There were some rooms, but most of them were filled with excess nanomaterials. She did find one room that had a box of pilfered snack and junk foods though, that had been brought up to bridge immediately. She hadn't done anything to the bridge yet, so leaning against the wall she touched it with her metal hand and set out to change that.

It turned out that her metal arm was far faster at propelling her thoughts through the ship without the use of panels, and in a couple moments the bridge was filled with a large comfy looking bed, a desk with a lamp, and even a large cushioned captain's chair. The room began becoming warm as well, small heat vents having formed around the edge of the floor. It was quite a cozy place for being the bridge of a fog warship with enough firepower to glass a whole town!

"Now the fun part." Scylla muttered as she looked down at her clothing, realizing that while comfortable, it was hardly appropriate to sleep in. or engage in winter combat for that matter, but that would come later If she left the climate controlled bridge.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself down she thought about her clothing hanging, and with a shimmering sound, she looked down to watch her clothing glow and change to a pair of flannel pajama pant and a top, both the same color as her ship's hull.

Lying down on the bed she brought up a panel, setting her ship to keep its orientation and speed equal to Gato's and then waited to be dropped into the concept comms. Instead a couple second later a panel popped up in front of her, literally inviting her to enter a concept comms room opened by Molotov.

With a chuckle she tapped accept, and found herself standing in what appeared to be a small but cozy log home. A fire roared against one wall, while a simple and large wooden table sat just away from it with three chairs around it, leaving the side closest to the fire empty. At the side across from the fire sat Molotov, wearing a dark brown nightdress, and to her right sat Mobile, wearing what looked like a fuzzy blue housecoat over pajamas. she even had blue bunny slippers on which were visible with her feet up on the table.

"Hm, not what I expected you to wear considering what you were earlier." Molotov said as pulled up a bottle of alcohol into view and took a swig from it.

"And what did you expect?" Scylla asked as she took the last remaining seat and glanced around. Seeing a stuffed bear head over the fireplace. How had she missed that initially? it was huge!

"I expect you to be wearing a t-shirt, and maybe a pair of short shorts honestly. Guess I was wrong." Molotov said as she took another swig from the bottle and set it on the table, then slid it across toward Scylla.

"Is drinking before sleep really such a good idea? I mean, I love a good drink but . . ."

"Doesn't matter." Mobile said with a yawn. "We cannot get drunk unless we drink it physically. Drinking or eating in the concept comms is just an illusion. "

"unfortunately. I could use a real drink. And would pay to watch you drunkenly fall overboard." Molotov said with a chuckle.

Scylla let out a sigh a she took the bottle and took a drink from it, then put it down and slid it back across the table. "I could understand not liking someone who is arrogant, but I think there's more to it. why are you out to get me?"

Molotov frowned as she caught the bottle, and then threw it into the fire, causing it to roar up soundlessly. "There are a few reasons actually, though I'll respect the fact you went straight to it. First off, you volunteered immediately for this mission despite being new. Other people, I'd say they didn't know what was going on, but you looked like you knew what everything meant perfectly. You basically volunteered to go end people lives with no hesitation. Secondly, I don't like your attitude, I've seen people like you act like they know what is going on, and then get proven wrong in painful and fatal ways."

"Ha, understandable." Scylla said as she rested her arms on the table. "Of course I volunteered to end people's lives. People are shit." Scylla then said solemnly, causing Mobile to perk up.

"Why do you say that?" She asked calmly.

Scylla let out a sigh and leaned back against her table. "When I was six the apartment I lived in with my dad was burned in an arson. It's how I got these burn scars. He died when the government ordered his naval force to fight the fog, for literally nothing more than to shift people's opinions in an election. My mother took me in, but treated me as little more than a maid to clean up her house and cook her food, never giving me anything more than a room with a mattress and twenty dollars a week for food and essentials." Scylla then raised her robotic arm. "In school I was bullied constantly, leaving me bruised and always hurting, until some people went so far as to throw a cinderblock at me from behind. it shattered my shoulder blade instantly. And then they went on to beat me up with pieces of wood, breaking my legs and mangling my left arm. We're nothing but a race of monsters, incapable of doing anything but fighting amongst ourselves for our own gain, and leaving all others in the dust."

"That's . . . did the school, or your parents never do anything? Your mother must have... right?" Molotov asked, clearly unnerved by Scylla's recollection.

"My mother was a slut who slept with men for money, and used me as a live-in maid that lived off pocket change, leaving me to get thin from lack of nourishment. She didn't even appear when I was in the hospital. And when I was released immediately complained about how far behind on the houses cleaning and chores I was."

"The government would not pay for prosthetics. She did, then?" Mobile asked calmly.

"No. my arm was left to heal In the hospital, but healed incorrectly, making my arm no longer straight and with little feeling. My shoulder blade was permanently crippled, making it hunch up like I was some sort of hunchback." Scylla said as she leaned forward, grinning. "I gathered money from part-time jobs without her knowing, and set off on my own, intent on living without her. I went diving in Vancouver, looking for lost and left behind jewelry and other expensive items. An American submarine was in the area, as was Gato. She destroyed the sub and the blast wave threw me into a wall, shattering my shoulder blade and arm on contact. The fog replaced it. Humans never cared for me, used and abused me. But the fog, they healed my body, repaired me, even made me better!"

"And that's why you are so gung-ho." Molotov said, connecting the dots.

"Yes. Here in the fog, I have a place. I feel like I'm doing something worthwhile, not just running from my problems, or clawing against them hopelessly!"

"What about relations?" Mobile asked calmly. "didn't you have any friends?"

" Pfff, no one cared for a near anorexic cripple. I was either bullied or ignored." Scylla replied, suddenly grinning "But here in the fog, even if there are no friends, I have allies. And in the words of an old general, I only understand friendship, or scorched earth!"

"So you would kill humans willingly just because some were bad to you?" Molotov asked, not angrily, but not calmly either. Like she was waiting for something to be said, or still deciding how to respond.

"We are a race of monsters. We war with each other constantly. We crossed oceans to kill each other for numerous reasons, and that went on for centuries. When we lost the oceans to the fog, what did we do? The mainland, all of it is embroiled in violence. Governments can barely control the people, gangs and splinter groups pop up on a weekly basis to fight each other for resources. You'd think we'd learn and try to fight together against the fog, or at least stay united, but it's not possible. Not without a controlling hand. Not without the proper motivation and evolution!"

Molotov and Mobil looked at each other with worried glances. "You don't mean-?" Molotov asked, letting her question hang.

Scylla nodded. " Yep. The more I think about it the more it makes sense to me. We're part of the fog now, so what if that's the answer, the way to end our entire races stupidity and worthlessness! The way to make everyone equal and part of one group, with none of this crap about ethnicity or nationality in the way!"

Neither mobile nor Molotov said anything for a while, before Mobile nodded. "You sound insane, but I can understand your logic."

"Mobile!" Molotov yelled in surprise.

"I said I understand it, not that I agree with it. At least not all of it. It is, something to think about at least."

" . . .how can you say that?" Molotov asked.

Mobile dropped her legs to the floor and clasped her hand together. "My family was poor. My sister and I lived in the slums of Santa Maria, scavenging with our parents. then a gang war broke out and both my parents died trying to protect us. I led my sister and other children away from the fighting to the port, but some gangs followed us, intent on doing horrible thing to us. We jumped into an old boat to run away, but many people were wounded, and the gangs strafed the boat with gunfire, wounding everyone including myself." Mobile said as she pulled the collar of her robe down to show a scar on her collarbone. "My sister and I were the only ones that0 had not died from our injuries before a fog ship found us floating on the waves.

"You have a sister?" Scylla asked "is she in the fleet?"

"She is. Topeka, a Cleveland Class cruiser like me."

"Damn, I knew you had a sister, and I figured you guys had it bad with how little both of you talked of the past but . . Dam." Molotov said with a sigh. "My situation feels, like nothing in comparison."

"what's your past then?" Scylla asked as she looked at Molotov, not angrily, but curiously.

"A lot simpler." Molotov Replied. "Grew up with a normal family in central Russia, normal childhood and life. I wanted to make something of myself, I wanted to find my place, and so I traversed around, doing odd jobs while I looked. One day I was In a seaside town and the fishermen were looking for volunteers to help go out and grab some nets they had set up the day before. I had never seen a fog before, never heard firsthand what they could do, so I thought all the stories were out of proportion, so I volunteered. And that led to this."

" . . . .Everyone probably has similar stories." Mobile suddenly said a small smile on her face. "Either a bad decision or a love of the sea led us here, and now were stuck on the sea. Never to have a place on the land."

"I wouldn't want to go back!" Scylla exclaimed.

"And I understand why now." Molotov said as she seemed to think to herself for a few seconds before letting out a short hiss. "Look, sorry. I shouldn't jump to conclusions about people. I personally think you're crazy, but anyone who went through all that and wasn't, well they'd be a different kind of crazy I think."

"Thanks, I think." Scylla replied.

"Some people want to see family and are unable though." Mobile said with a sigh. "me and Topeka have each other, but some people don't have others to help them through everything."

"Well . . .shouldn't everyone help each other?" Scylla suggested, getting strange looks from Molotov and Mobile. "I mean, we're all Fog hybrids now, so in a way like one big insane family of conscripted killers, right?"

"That sounds horrible." Molotov said simply.

"I've heard Intrepid and hope say something similar though." Mobile suddenly said. "That they consider the fleet to be like family to them and that is why they work so hard to help everyone. I think it's a nice idea."

"Sure, but that'd mean being related to this obviously crazy psychopath!" Molotov said jokingly as she pointed to Scylla.

"I'd prefer Sociopath." She said, surprising Molotov. "I know it's wrong to want to kill people I just don't care after what I've been through. As I said, friendship or scorched earth!"

"Good to know were on the same side then." Molotov said with a sigh as she looked up at the ceiling. "We should probably hit the sack. We may be hybrids, but our bodies are still mostly human and need sleep. Gato will probably wake us up if something happens."

"Agreed. We'll see each other in the morning." Mobile said a she stretched in her chair, and then looked at Molotov and Scylla. "I was not expecting to let so much out but, it feels good to finally have told others. And I'm glad I heard yours too. Thank you." Then she disappeared.

Molotov looked at Scylla for a second before grinning ever so slightly. "I'm not thanking you for sharing that horrible story, just so you know."

"Oh, that's fine. I think we should be able to at least deal with each other's company now though, yes?"

"Perhaps, we'll have to see how well you do in combat. I still don't like how willing you are to kill, or how arrogant you seem at the moment miss scorched earth!"

"I can deal with that. See you in the morning."

"Yep, then we get to see what you can really do!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The morning greeted them with calm seas, a thin fog, and light snow, both of which slightly impeded their visibility. Ice sheets could be seen in the distance, and massive floating icebergs bobbed menacingly around.

The weather outside, while technically mild for the far north, was still extremely cold. The base temperature was nearly negative twenty degrees, and with the added wind, the snow and the speed from the ships movement, everyone decided it was best to stay in their bridges. They could still see Gato outside however, still sitting on her one deck gun aimlessly. The morning had been rather calm and lax, with neither Molotov or Scylla speaking up, unsure of quiet how to considering their conversation from the previous night. Then, as Scylla let out a sigh and prepared to speak, Gato's voice came over the Comms.

{Four targets located at range via sonar scans. three kilometers Northwest of our current position. change to intercept course.}

{Acknowledged.} Both Molotov and Mobile replied, as Scylla squinted out the windows of the bridge.

{Acknowledged but . . . Gato, what is the environment ahead like? do we have an overhead map? or something similar?}

{Yes, why? Confirm.}

{I don't see them even at this distance. they might be hiding behind ice flows or small islands. if they are it may become difficult to gain target locks.}

{That's what missiles are for.} Mobile said calmly.

{Yeah, but even missiles have flight angles. can we get a map?}

{No need, contacts!} Molotov called out as the sound of cannon fire echoed from the distance, and a pair of shells flew out through the snow, striking Molotov's Klein field.

Off in the distance, visible between a pair of ice flows, with a large iceberg behind them, where four ships. two of the ships in the centre appeared to be a fishing trawler and a small transport ship, while in the front and the back were a pair of destroyers, their guns all pointed toward the four fog ships.

{Four contacts. two civilian, two military. take the destroyers first?} Scylla asked as her guns moved and trained on targets, only for the first destroyer to begin slipping behind an ice flow as large as a warehouse.

{Contacts about to be temporarily lost.} Mobile said with a sigh. { Gato, do you have their locations through sonar?}

{ . . . Negative. Ice flows are reflecting sonar waves and making it difficult to locate targets or keep a lock. Confirm.}

{Damn ice. it's always like this. Contacts!} Molotov said as a destroyer poked its head out as two ice flow split apart from each other, revealing its position, and allowing two lines of fire.

It fired all of its guns in a thin broadside, targeting mobile, but only half the shells struck home, the other being absorbed by the Klein field. In response Mobile opened up with her main guns, sending a barrage of fire at the destroyer. The moving ice however made it difficult with nearly all the shots striking ice, and one shot striking one of the ship's rear structures, Creating a large explosion, though clearly not sinking it before it disappeared behind the ice again.

{Damage confirmed. we can locate them via smoke trail now.} Mobile said, sounding a bit smug.

Scylla looked around, following the smoke trail and smiled as she saw it approaching a sheer cliff of ice. {Mobile, was that the first or last destroyer?}

{Last I believe.}

Scylla grinned to herself as she suddenly spun herself to her starboard side, aligning herself parallel to the distance cliff face as all of her guns turned to a broadside.

{What are you doing?} Molotov asked In curiosity as she moved to dodge an oncoming chunk of ice, broken loose by Mobiles previous fire.

{Smoking them out!} Scylla replied with a vile grin as she opened up with her main and secondary guns, sending a large barrage out at the cliff, far above where the ships could be hiding.

{What are you . . . oh shit!} Molotov muttered as she saw a massive chunk of ice fracture off of the cliff face from Scylla's fire, crashing down into the water and creating a massive wave that not only dwarfed numerous ice flows, but caused them to begin floating away. more chunks of ice fractured off, Scylla's fire weakening the cliff ace more than it could handle, and in a couple seconds all the ice flows were tumbling around at random through the water, right toward them.

{You're making his more difficult than it needs to be!} Molotov said with a growl, just as they all noticed Gato firing a salvo of torpedoes.

{Target locations in plain view.} Gato announced, right as the salvo of torpedoes blew apart a half dozen smaller icebergs into shard of ice that bobbed in the water. Visible past the broken ice, were the four ships. One, the first destroyer, had been crushed in half by a chunk of ice the size of a house, slowly sinking into the depths. The two civilian ships had capsized from the waves of water, while the last, damaged destroyer had moved to avoid the wave, and had embedded itself against a broken iceberg, a fire covering the front of it as people ran across its deck trying to control it.

{finish them off?} Scylla asked as her guns moved to target the destroyer.

{Confirmed} Gato replied as Molotov let out a heavy sigh.

Scylla's guns roared and bolts of light soared through the snow and into the length of the destroyer, blowing the entire thing apart near completely. A second later a couple of shots came from mobile and Molotov, striking the spines of the capsized civilian ships, breaking them up into the water.

{No point in prolonging their suffering} Mobile said with a yawn.

{Yeah. Gato, permission to scavenge for supplies, and survivors?} Molotov asked, her ship already changing it direction to do so.

{Scavenging for supplies approved. Hulls of ships should be converted into Nanomaterial if available. Survivors . . . confirmed if gender designated Female. Confirm.}

"So we kill any men we find, and capture the women for more conscripts?} Scylla asked cautiously.

{Confirmed.}

All four of their ships slipped around the ice, scanning the wrecks for anything important or useful, and using small cranes to grab what they could. as they scavenged Gato's main gun turned toward one section of ice and fired, the ice becoming covered in a red spot in that same instant. No one said anything at that and kept looking.

{All I'm finding is fish. and I guess, chum?} Mobile stated, earning a disgust groan from Molotov.

{Please don't. we can't bury these people, but let's at least show some respect for their bodies if they're already dead. found a crate of Vodka.}

{Ooh, I want some of that later!} Scylla exclaimed as she looked around, noticing in blog of orange on the water. { Found a life boat, moving to investigate.}

{Anyone on it?} Mobile asked as Scylla arrived at it.

{Looks like... a young girl, maybe thirteen or fourteen I think.}

{Take them. they will be brought back to the fleet. confirm.} Gato ordered.

{Ugh, fine. I'll take them on board though.} Molotov said as her ship moved up beside Scylla's. {Don't want your insanity affecting someone so young!}

Scylla smiled as her crane lifted up the boat and swung it around, plopping it down, with the unconscious girl inside, on Molotov's deck. {Probably a good idea, I'll admit. you get to explain the situation to her then as well, lucky!} She said in mock annoyance and jealousy.

{Oh shit, I will. This is not going to be fun.} Molotov said with a sigh a Gato's main gun roared again, painting another iceberg.

{All targets eliminated or secured. fleet action complete. reform fleet organization and chart course back to main fleet. confirm.}

{And we're heading back.} Mobile said with a content sigh. { Nice idea with the ice Scylla. saved us from having to tail them between ice flows. I've done that before. Not fun.}

{Yeah, but I'm not sure which would be more merciful. the drowning and freezing, or death by explosion.} Molotov said with a sigh.

{I just figured it would be the fastest way without using missiles.} Scylla said as she walked over to her bed and sat down on it. {Makes me wonder if Napalm missiles would be effective though. or maybe multi warhead missiles that break up before impact.}

{Why would you even wonder that!?} Molotov exclaimed as all of their ships reconvened away from the ice and began heading south.

{Just trying to think of a way to increase the hit area. That and napalm would be really good if we target a land installation. hmm, wonder if I could make a single missile hit multiple targets, that'd be good for some ops.}

{Ugh, please stop. let's just head back to the fleet.}

{Confirm.}

{Alright.}

{Sure!}


	3. Chapter 3

{Ugh finally we're back!} Scylla exclaimed from the front of her ship as she looked to see the rest of the fleet ahead of them in the distance, quickly becoming larger as they got closer.

{I agree.} Molotov called back from her ship, sitting on top of the structure. {Dealing with those destroyers was one thing, but I didn't expect to have a trio of cruisers pick a fight with us on the way back.}

{We won, so what's the problem?} Mobile asked with a yawn.

{Yeah, and we pilfered more vodka off of them!} Scylla exclaimed happily as she held up an opened bottle of Vodka in her hand and took a swig directly from the bottle.

{Vodka is minor!} Molotov cried out in annoyance. {We need to be worried about the girl we picked up. It's been four days and she has yet to wake up!}

{I suppose that is a problem.} Scylla said calmly as she took another swig. {Isn't it a bigger problem that you're Russian and acting like Vodka is nothing though?}

{Are you serious!?} Molotov nearly roared over the comms, making both Mobile and Scylla flinch a little.

{No I'm not, I'm just messing with you.} Scylla replied with a sigh. {You're too high strung}

{Says the one who made a napalm missile and dropped it on the middle of a guided missile cruiser!}

{Both of you calm down.} Mobile spoke up with a another yawn. {We're almost at the fleet again. I need to see how my sister is doing, so which of you is going with Gato to debrief Brisky and who is going to bring the girl to Hope?}

Silence reigned for a good minute as their ships approached the fleet.

{I'll go debrief Brisky if you take the girl to Hope.} Molotov finally said with a sigh, her cruiser slowly inching closer to Sylla's, the crane already lifting the girl, now in a strait jacket in a hammock, onto Scylla's deck.

{Yeah okay. I want to ask her something anyway.} Scylla said with a shrug. {Oh I see a new ship at the edge of the fleet! And is that a PT boat?}

{. . . Looks like it. } Mobile said. {Talk to you both later either in a concept room or in Intrepid's lobby.}

{Intrepid has a lobby?} Scylla asked in surprise.

{She made it as a rest and gathering area for everyone. It's just a bunch of chairs and tables. And a pool table.} Molotov said as she ship began turning towards Brisky's ship. {You know which ship is Hope's right?}

{The one without guns. Talk later!} Scylla called as she cut the connection and sped toward Hope's ship. As she pulled up beside it Scylla found herself glaring at it in annoyance. "It's a bit taller than I thought it would be. Can my crane go up that high? . . . . eh, I'll just leave the girl here for now and find Hope first" Scylla muttered to herself as she jumped up onto Hope's deck and went into the first door she found.

The inside of Hope's ship was clean and simple; something that made sense for what was basically a hospital ship. Walking down the halls she couldn't see Hope anywhere though, and after taking a swig of Vodka got fed up with looking. " HOPE! Where the fuck are you!?"

"LANGUAGE YOUNG LADY!" Came Hope's voice from down the hall as a snap of fingers was heard, right before a orange holopanel with an arrow on it came out of a doorway, pointing inside.

"Ah there you are!" Scylla said to herself as she walked over and stuck her head into the doorway, talking while she moved. "We just blew up a bunch of russian ships. Got some Vodka off them and got a girl who's about fourteen too she seems to be in a . . . oh, who's this?" Scylla finally asked as she noticed that Hope was looking over another girl who was on her side. the girl looked about Scylla's own age with chestnut colored hair down to her lower back. She looked to be in good shape and decently tall, but with Hope standing over her with a stethoscope it made it difficult to tell. She had casts on her legs as well as bandages on her lower back, so evidently she had gotten into some trouble and not come out unscathed.

"She's currently my patient. what do you need Scylla?" Hope asked with a sigh as she continued with what she had been doing.

"Hmm? Oh right. Well the mission was a success with no one hurt. We sunk about seven ships, two of them civilian and pilfered their Vodka, enough for a bottle for everyone, and we found a young girl about fourteen who's been in a coma for four days. Figured you'd want to look at her before you got the order to go and implant her." Scylla explained slower as she stepped into the doorway full and rested her robotic arm on the frame, taking a swig of vodka from the bottle in her other hand. "This is good stuff too!"

"My name's Alaska. I'll be around here for a bit while I recover." The girl introduces herself while partially facing the wall. "Care to move around to where I can see you?"

"Yeah sure, unless Hope shoves me out?" Scylla said as she grinned at Hope, who simply shook her head when she noticed the Bottle in her hands.

"That is alright, but do not let her drink any of that. I don't want it influencing her bodies repairs." Hope said with a sigh. "Where is the girl you mentioned?"

"Aft end of my deck. I figured I'd wait to move her in case you wanted to look her over first."

"Very well, I'm done here for now, so I'll go take a look at her. Do not do anything stupid, Alaska has been through a lot just recently and her body is weak." Hope explained as she pushed her chair back and got up, leaving with a glare at Scylla to reinforce her words as orders.

Scylla waited until Hope had left and was down the hall before smiling to herself and walked to the end of the bed so she could be seen, and rested against the wall with her metallic arm in clear view. "So, Alaska Class heavy cruiser eh? Nice to meet you. Names Scylla, Minotaur Class light cruiser!" She introduced as she took a swig of Vodka, then looked it over to see she had drank half the bottle already.

"Large cruiser actually, essentially a fancy name for a battlecruiser, but I digress. It's nice to meet you too." Alaska replies as she holds out her hand, which Scylla shakes firmly. as she lets go though, she points at the bottle of Vodka. "May I?"

Scylla looks at the bottle then at the doorway, worried about Hope catching her. "Sure, as long as Hope doesn't find out."

"I'll keep it a secret, but honestly I could care less. I've been dry ever since I joined the Fog." Alaska said as she took the bottle and sat up a bit, enough to drink from it comfortably. "Paaah, that's the spot."

"Glad you like it. Its pretty good considering we swiped it from sailors." Scylla said calmly as she crossed her arms. "So, mind if I ask why you're in a half body cast?"

"Not at all." Alaska replied. "I tried to be conservative in the use of my klein field and got blasted with a shotgun. Then the fishermen used my limbs as target practice." Alaska explained as she passed the bottle back. "Lesson learned, always have a backup plan for the backup plan."

"Oh that sounds painful. How'd they know you were Fog anyway?" Scylla asked as she took the bottle and a quick swig from it.

"I got caught trying to essentially shoplift. Everyone in the fleet wanted drinks and sweets, so I went ashore and got some." She explained.

"Ah that explains it. I'd just have killed him and taken what I needed. Not like he'd be missed anyway." Scylla said with a shrug.

Alaska suddenly looked slightly uncomfortable. "Looking back on it now . . . that's probably what I should've done."

"You live and learn, right? Anyway, what village was it? The one on tip of vancouver island or more north?" Scylla suddenly asked.

"Uh, New Port Hardy. It was the nearest place at the time. I figured it'd be a cinch."

"Ah that makes sense. I wonder if Brisky would let me test that new napalm missile on it then to test the effects?" Scylla wondered out loud, grinning like a maniac as an unstable look filled her eyes.

"H-hold on a second. That's not necessary. I'd bet that Enterprise has already turned the place into a parking lot. She'd been dying to try launching bombers, and she's the one who bailed me out!" Alaska suddenly explained.

Scylla scowled in sudden annoyance. "Darn, I was looking to try out that corrosion cluster warhead Mobile and I devised on the way back. Ah, Mobile is one of our fleets light cruisers, a cleveland." Scylla mentioned a second after complaining.

Alaska is quiet for a second, making Scylla speak up again.

"Something wrong? or just thinking?"

"We've always just hit infrastructure . . . I mean, if people get caught in it I've always felt kinda bad but . . ." Alaska's words trail off as Scylla interrupts her.

"Oh I see! You don't want to hurt humans! You have no reason to hate them!" Scylla exclaims in realization, her robotic fingers twitching slightly.

"I . . . What? W-w-we were never told to specifically hurt or kill people. . . .w-we were always assigned industrial targets." Alaska stutters, clearly caught off guard by Scylla's words.

"That's fine." Scylla says as she takes a drink then glances at her twitching metal fingers. "Stop that!" She yells and her fingers stop twitching as she looks back to Alaska. "If you don't want to hit humans if your orders don't say to, that's fine. Nothing wrong with it eh?"

"S-Scylla, you're kinda freaking me out a bit here." Alaska squeaked as she tried to push herself further away from her. Scylla looked at Alaska and slowly her expression changed, becoming ever so slightly sad. "Oh, I did it again didn't I? Damn, Molotov even told me about that yesterday too! Sorry about that, I've got some . . . minor problems stemming from my past, so I'm a little . . unbalanced sometimes."

"You wanna talk about it?" alaska asks carefully.

"Naw, you look a little startled as it is, last thing I want is you to pity me and be afraid of me at the same time when we're supposed to be on the same side here, right?" Scylla said with a smile as she stretched her arms up above her head. "Got anything else to ask? Otherwise I'll head back out and see how hope is doing. Leave you to get rid of my crazy."

"N-no, I'll be fine. . . . thanks though."

"Okay, I'll go see how Hope's doing. I'm kind of curious as to what the new girl will be. Hopefully a Sub, we could use one that doesn't end every sentence with a query or confirmation! See ya!" Scylla said as she walked out of the room while finishing of her bottle of vodka.

Walking the halls she found a orange holo pane outside one room. and looking inside found Hope sitting in a chair, the young girl on a bed in front of her. "How'd it go?"

Hope looked up to Scylla and smiled slightly. "She's fine now. And no I haven't implanted her yet. I had to repair some small but major damage in the brain that was the reason for the coma. Best case she wakes up in a few hours."

"And worst case?"

"Complete amnesia."

"Ooh, no way of telling?"

"No. I'll be alerting Brisky and Intrepid when she awakens." Hope said with a sigh, noticing the empty bottle. "Did you drink that entire bottle yourself?"

"Yep, granted I started drinking it this morning but, yep!"

"You said there was a bottle for everyone?"

"Yep, almost two for everyone technically, but we're three short for that." Scylla said.

"Good, I'll need one later." Hope said as she stood up and stretched, "I'm going to go check on my other patient and make sure you didn't break her. So go back to your ship or go hang on Intrepid, alright?"

"Alright!" Scylla replied as she left the room, then stopping at the doorway. "Oh yeah, is there a way for us to become fully Fog?"

"Um, I'm not sure. Why-"

"Okay, talk later!" Scylla suddenly said as she disappeared, leaving Hope alone to worry over that question as well as her patients health.

"I should check on Alaska, make sure Scylla didn't traumatize her." Hope muttered as she left the room, closing the door on the way out.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"And that is the result of the operation." Molotov said as she finished her report to Brisky.

She and Gato were standing before Brisky and Intrepid in a Concept comms room, the generic marble one that Molotov hated. It was boring, plain, and looked like something out of Alice in Wonderland. And she hated that story!

Brisky turned to Gato. "Is her report accurate? Do you have anything to add?"

"Report is accurate. Would like to add that Light Minotaur class cruiser, Scylla, proved be highly efficient in her actions, and appears to take enjoyment in them. She spent time on the way back designing alternative missile rounds with Cruiser Mobile, one of which, a Napalm missile, was used to effect on a russian cruiser, as you have been told. Suggest allowing her to continue making alternative munitions for her own use. Confirm." Gato explained simply.

Brisky nodded and looked to Intrepid. "As lead of Hybrids what do you suggest? Allow or deny?"

Intrepid sunk a bit and let out a sigh. "Morally I'd say no, but honestly tactically there's no reason to deny it if she knows what she's doing." Intrepid said as she looked to Molotov. "What do you make of her though Molotov?"

"She's honest to the point of being blunt. But she's also very clearly sociopathic. She wants to kill humans, and enjoys doing so. Doesn't seem to have a care for how much pain she put them through either. Her history explains most of it, but I think she's naturally unstable and becoming a Fog has worsened it. If I had to use a single word to describe her, it would be broken!"

"I see." Intrepid said with a sigh. "I got a similar diagnosis from Hope before you all left. Do you think it will pose a problem for the fleet?"

"No, she explained it by quoting some old general, saying that she only understands friendship or scorched earth. As long as we're on the same side we'll be fine I think."

"Then its fine. We'll just have to be careful." Intrepid said before she looked to Brisky. "I have one thing I would like to bring up, if you would allow it."

"Go ahead, what do you need to ask?"

"The Cruiser that was brought to us for Hope to Repair, Alaska. Hope tells me it will take at minimum a week for her to heal. Obviously she will not work for her stay, but what of the fleet she is part of? Do we invite them to serve alongside us for a while so they can be near her?"

Brisky was silent for a moment, thinking over the pro's and cons of the idea. "Ask Hope to ask the one in her hold if she would like that as an option first."

Intrepid nodded and began calling Hope, humming to herself and nodding her head slightly as she spoke in her mind. "Hope will ask that whole fleet in a moment, so we'll just wait until then."

"Very well, we'll come back to that. The last thing then." Brisky said as she looked to Molotov. "You returned with a young girl, to be inducted, correct?"

"Y-yes. It was that or let her die. She's in Hopes care currently as she never woke up while traveling." Molotov explained.

Intrepid then spoke up. "Hope sent me a notice on her. She's successfully fixed the problem that was putting her in a Coma, but there is a chance the girl could have amnesia, so she decided to hold off the implant until she found out if she did or not."

"Amnesia means the selective or total loss of memory, affecting anything from knowledge of a subject to one's entire self. Confirm." Gato asked, though it was difficult to tell.

"Yes." Intrepid answered. "Hope is worried that depending on what memories are lost, it could simplify the process, or make it more difficult so she wishes to find it out beforehand so it does not become a problem."

"Couldn't be more of a problem than Scylla's personality." Molotov grumbled.

"Ignoring Molotov for a moment, what options will she be given for her ship?" Intrepid asked calmly.

Brisky nodded. "Tribal Class destroyer or Stalinets class submarine. We do not have enough scouting and scanning capability."

"I see. Oh, I've gotten Hope's message. The other fleet wishes to come join us temporarily to be with their one member." Intrepid said with a slight smile.

"Very well. We'll use them for some small patrols, but not all at once, and perhaps a full fleet drill." Brisky decided.

"We'll have enough to do a full two fleet mock combat as well." Intrepid suggested.

"That may be an option as well, from the sound of it, Scylla is skilled enough to join in for that. How long until this fleet arrives then?" Brisky asked next, moving along.

"Hope says anywhere from nineteen to twenty-seven hours." Intrepid answered.

"Very well. Until they are five hours out we shall resume regular duties, dismissed." Brisky said as the concept communication was cut, leaving Gato's mental model, along with Intrepid and Molotov at the edge of Intrepid's flight deck.

Gato dropped off the edge, landing on her awaiting sub without a word, leaving Intrepid and Molotov alone.

"So, is Scylla really as bad as you made her out to be? Or were you trying to get her some training in before another mission by making her seem bad?" intrepid asked with a grin.

Molotov nodded. "Completely sociopathic and dangerous to anyone not in the Fog. She devised a napalm missile, and cluster munitions on a whim, and she is deadly efficient. Mobile has taken to giving her the nickname of scorched earth, and seems to like her."

"Well, Mobile and her sister are two of the more... willing hybrids in our fleet considering their past. I guess with Scylla it makes sense they'd like each other.

"Yeah, but it's a little worrisome honestly."

"It will be fine. I need to get to know her myself." Intrepid said with grin as she brought up a Holographic map of her own ship. "And she's in the lobby with almost everyone else. How perfect. Shall we go mingle?"

Molotov let out a heavy sigh and followed Intrepid toward the tower of her flight deck, where the stairs down to the Lobby were located. "If we must."

Intrepids lobby was designed similarly to a sitting room, crossed with a tea room and a billiards hall. The walls were a deep red with a golden pattern on them, with columns of dark wood every few meters. The floor was covered in a soft carpet the color of oak bark. There was one Pool table of varnished wood, and a larger sitting table with heavy chairs around it. To the other side were an arrangement of smaller tea tables and heavily cushioned seats that looked like they had been swiped from a high class hotel. The smaller tables had been moved around so that every three chairs, now sitting in a large circle, had a table for them to use, and almost every table had some form of drink on it, either the recently acquired bottles of high quality Vodka, or some form of tea or coffee.

As soon as Molotov and Intrepid came in the noise lowered down to almost nothing and everyone waited patiently, expecting Intrepid to say something considering the air about her.

"Alright, I'll keep this brief. As you all know, we have a new member of the fleet." Intrepid said as she gestured to Scylla. "I assume she's been introduced, but I have to ask, has everyone introduced themselves?"

A chain of mutters and whistles came in reply.

"Oh for the- everyone but Mobile and Molotov, sound off and introduce yourselves!" Intrepid said as she and molotov took seats.

The first to stand up was a pale blonde haired girl with a calm face, and a small hole missing out of her right ear. "I am Topeka, Cleveland Class cruiser. Mobile is my sister by blood, and by ship class."

Next was a woman with long blonde hair and a body that models would kill for. "I'm a Pensacola class cruiser, Salt Lake City. Please just call me lake."

Next was a woman with short black hair, and eyes the color of amethyst. "I'm a Pallada class cruiser, Aurora. Pleased to meet you."

The next woman was older, looking in her late twenties. She had pale ginger hair, and a soft motherly face. "Admiral Nakhimov Class Cruiser, Chervona Ukraina. It is my sincere pleasure to make your acquaintance Scylla."

"Now onto the Destroyers." Molotov said with an exasperated sigh, getting annoy glares from the girls who remained.

"Ha, as if! I'm Roe! A Sims class destroyer!" An energetic girl of sixteen said confidently, despite the lack of confidence her body showed, her hair was a messy dark brown, and her clothing equally messy.

The girl beside her, who had the same hair style and look to her body, but kept herself far more organized, sighed a bit. "I'm a Sims class Destroyer like my sister. I'm called Hammann, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Leningrad class destroyer, Baku. A pleasure." Said the next girl, who looked definitely more asian than russian, but looked calm and assured of her abilities.

The last girl, maybe twelve years old and nearly folded up on her chair with her curling gold locks hanging over her face, quietly spoke up, the entire room going silent to hear her. "O-Ognevoy class Destroyer. I-I'm named Vlastny now. H-Hello."

"That's everyone," Intrepid said as she leaned back in her chair. "You already know me, Hope, Mobile and Molotov, so yeah."

"Intrepid, the other fleet." Reminded Molotov.

"Ah right." Intrepid said as he stood up. "You all have likely noticed the other cruiser at the edge of the fleet. They're an Alaska class cruiser who's getting healed by Hope. The fleet she's part of will be arriving sometime tomorrow and joining us until Alaska is healed. They will be sharing some duties with us, so make sure to make them welcome, alright?"

Everyone let out statements of understanding, though some were not heard over others.

"Good. We're to keep up with regular duties until they arrive, so if you have time make sure our ships are tidy and presentable. . . . that's it, I'm done!"

With the orders and introduction out of the way, everyone cut loose, playing billiards, chatting and simply enjoying each other's company, the pilfered liquor getting used by everyone, even those who as full humans should not have any. And within six hours everyone was either out like a light, or too tired to do anything but sleep.

And so the day came to an end, preparing them for the next, when another fleet would come to say hello.


	4. Chapter 4

Authors note: Thank you to everyone who is favoriting, following and simply enjoying this little creation. as a reminder it is a cooperative story with Sirstonewall with his side being called Ghosts in the fog Redux. His characters are a little more sane XD

please enjoy!

"Ugh, why the hell do we get hangovers!" Molotov complained as she pulled herself out of a chair in Intrepids lobby. Everyone except for Hope, Gato, intrepid and Brisky were there, either sleeping on a couch or chair, or even on the floor. Scylla was the only other person awake, and appeared to be drinking a cup of something out of a teacup, though no steam wafted of of it.

"Morning." Scylla said as she drank the whole cup in one go, then walked over to a tea maker and poured a brown liquid out. again, not steaming.

"Ugh, how are you so chipper? And what is that? Is it good against hangovers?" Molotov asked as she slowly got up, hating herself for getting pulled into drinking the night before.

"I fiddled with the machine until i got it to make decent lemon iced tea." Scylla said as she poured another glass and drank it instantly. "No idea if it's good against hangovers, but it is really good!"

"If it's not good against hangovers why are you so chipper and not hungover!?" Molotov demanded as she walked over and poured herself a cup of coffee from the other machine.

"No idea. i've never been able to get drunk or even buzzed. I blame my slut of a mother's attempt to alter my biology, and the subsequent screw up that was my body!"

"Ugh, lucky i guess. Hangovers suck." Molotov said as she looked around, realizing that everyone who was asleep, and even herself, had had a blanket over them. "Where did the blankets come from?"

"I grabbed them when everyone passed out." Scylla said as she poured another cup of tea and drank it in one go, then did it again. "Should've thought to give everyone a bit of water though, i hear that helps with hangovers."

"It does?" Molotov asked in surprise as she pinched the bridge of her nose, cursing the pounding in her skull.

"Well i've just heard that. never had a chance to test it."

"I'll have to try it." Molotov said with a groan. "What time is it?"

"Um, about nine fourty if that clock is right."

"Nine fo- . . . . . Intrepid is going to kill us."

"Why? she was drinking too?"

"She's like you, doesn't get drunk. like at all as far as i know. And because she's Brisky's second, she always up and about by dawn. We need to get everybody up and clean this place . . . hang on." Molotov stopped as she looked around, seeing no empty bottles or glasses on the tables. " Did you..?"

"Collect the bottles? yes. I also put the glasses in the sink in the next room. I was bored and couldn't sleep, and didn't want to go to my bed when it was pitch black out. If i slipped i'm pretty sure my arm would drag me right down to the ocean floor.."

"I guess so." Molotov said with a grin as she shook her head. "Thank god the union cores filter out blood quickly. Makes me realize how strong that vodka was too, ugh."

"It did say 174 proof on the bottles."

"You're kidding!?"

"Nope."

"Ugh." Molotov Groaned, realizing how much money in vodka they just all consumed. " We need to wake everyone up and get them moving. preferably before that other fleet arrives."

"Oh, right. . . okay. May I?" Scylla said as she pulled an ornamental Shield off the wall with her organic arm, and gestured at it with her metal one. It was clear what her intent was.

"Go ahead, i'm not saving you if someone attacks you for it." Molotov said knowingly.

Scylla Shrugged, and with a grin swung her metal arm, with an open hand, against the gongs surface. The resulting crash reverberated throughout the room going deep into everyone's lungs and spines, and forcing awake even the deepest sleeper, Topeka, who immediately proceeded to perk up and search for the source of the noise. Within a second she was standing ,and slowly walking toward Scylla, a crazy look in her eyes as nanomaterial formed into a half dozen daggers that floated around her.

"What is the point of that infernal racket!? Some of us are trying to sleep peacefully!" she growled as she fully stepped up to Scylla, the daggers moving forward, hovering just away from her body.

"We needed to get up. blame the alcohol and soft chairs." Scylla said with a smile.

"Ugh, Topeka, stop threatening people who wake you up! not everyone will go through the process of tickling your left pinky toe to wake you up!" Mobile said with a yawn, all the destroyer girls watching Topeka to see which way they'd need to run to avoid her morning wrath.

"But-"

"This isnt Santa maria. Loud noise in the morning does not mean danger, calm down." Mobile said calmly.

Topeka nodded, the Daggers returning to nanomaterials, and then shifting to a pair of bracelets on each of her wrists and ankles. " Sorry. i don't like mornings." Topeka said as she stared at the floor.

"Don't worry about it." Scylla said as she poured a cup of coffee and handed it to Topeka.

"Thanks."

"don't mention it, now, who else needs a pick me up?" Scylla asked, nearly everyone putting their hands up.

"You're a scorched earth sociopath, why are you so good with people?!" Molotov asked in exasperation.

"Because everyone here is a friend and ally!" Scylla declared with a smile as she and Mobile began pouring and passing out cups of hot coffee, or ice tea, to everyone.

Molotov let out a groan and joined in, and in just a couple sparse minutes everyone was standing on their own, even if they really did not want to be standing, and a couple minutes after everyone's hangovers were either gone, or had not existed.

"Is everyone awake yet!?" Intrepid called out loudly as she entered the lobby, making some people, especially those with remaining hangovers, to flinch and scowl. "oh, i guess so."

"Yes we're awake. You sending us on Patrols already?"

"No, patrols will wait for now." intrepid said as he stood in the doorway. "we've detected the other fleet about two hours out, so we need everyone to realign their ships positions to make the fleet look organized, then we'll wait and meet them on my flight deck."

Some of the destroyers stifled giggles, making Intrepid let out a sigh.

"That means now." She said as she made a holographic panel with a map of the area, and highlighted area on it with everyone's names. "Move your ships to the designated spots then we'll meet up on deck. also clean yourselves up a bit if possible. some of you look like crap." She finished before turning and leaving the lobby.

" . . . . Well that was a thing." Topeka grumbled in annoyance, pulling out a knife from somewhere and running it along her thumbnail.

"Topeka, you're doing it again." Mobile said with a sigh.

"Huh? oh, sorry," Topeka said as she quickly stowed the knife away. "Ugh, i don't wanna go move my ship. i need to see it at least to move it!"

"Most of us do," Aurora said with a yawn. "we better get moving and get it done already, otherwise Intrepid will come back and start nagging us. . . or teasing us, ugh."

"Ugh, please no, her teasing is a little harsh for this early in the morning. Any other time it's fine." Roe mentioned with a shiver as everyone began heading out to go up to the flight deck.

"fix your shirt Roe." Baku said as she poked her in the back. "You're giving off too much of a view of your bra from your shirt being half off!"

"what? oh, right. What the big deal though? there's no boys around."

"Be that as it may, it is not proper, so please fix it, okay Roe?" Chernova asked in a motherly tone, making Roe grudgingly begin fixing her shirt and skirt without another word.. as Mobile came up to the door at the top of the stairs and grinned slightly to herself as she suddenly threw the door open and held it open, flooding the stairwell with light.

Coming up onto the flight deck everyone found the sky above a clear blue, with not a cloud in sight. the waves were nonexistent, and Brisky's ship was closer to Intrepids than normal. in the distance they could see the shapes of other ships slowly approaching, which kicked Intrepids orders into overdrive. everyone ran to one edge of the flight deck, knowing innately where their ship was in comparison to intrepid, and began giving orders, raising anchors and carefully moving their ships to lower anchors at their new positions. it took roughly half an hour for the chaos to calm down, but everyone had managed to move their ships without any collisions, though a few destroyers came close.

Then it just became a case of waiting for the other fleet, who all must have only been going half speed from how slow they were, to arrive.

Everyone spent it in roughly the same way, forming small groups and either talking, or simply enjoying each other's company until the other fleet finely was close enough for them all to actually start caring.

A moment later both Intrepid and Brisky appeared on the flight deck, setting off everyone to stand up and form a loose line, destroyers on one end, and the cruisers in the middle with Intrepid and Brisky on the other.

Another moment later, Alaska came up onto the deck, slowly moving herself through the use of a pair of crutches, with Hope coming up behind her. The pair then stopped away from the group to the side, staying out of the way.

"So that's her huh?" lake said with interest and worry in her voice. "I wonder what caused such damage that she so need a cast?"

"Buckshot," Scylla said casually, among as couple people look at her, expecting more information and answers.

"And you know this how?' Aurora asked when Scylla did not continue on her own.

"Hmm? Oh, I met her when I went to tell Hope about the girl we picked up. She got caught trying to shoplift and got gunned down by fishermen. She's nice, but she doesn't like the idea of killing or hunting humans."

"Only you, Mobile and Topeka go out of your ways to hunt humans, the rest of us just deal with them if they get in the way." Molotov said instantly.

"No I mean she hates the idea of hurting any of them, even sailors who attack them I think." Scylla explained in more depth.

"That's Stupid!" Topeka said with a huff. "If someone attacks you, you kill them. Why is that so hard to understand?"

"Not everyone wants to kill if it can be helped," Aurora reminded. "I wonder if their fleet does kill missions then?"

"I don't think so. Alaska said something about them normally getting missions to take out buildings and infrastructure primarily." Scylla responded with a shrug.

"I see." Mobile said with a slight smile. "More kills for us then!"

"Here they come!" Intrepid suddenly called as their fleet seemed to stop a half kilometer away, and pair of smaller boats made a beeline away from them and towards intrepid. they disappeared a moment later, before Holopanel's appeared at the edge, clearly the end of a staircase up to Intrepids rather high flight deck.

The first person to come up is a woman who looks to be in her mid thirties who is wearing a straw hat and a red sundress. Behind her was a redheaded woman in jeans and a simple black T-shirt, she also had a rather good build across her whole well toned body. coming up behind the two were a bunch of other girls, all of them anxious looking, with ages ranging from the mid teens to mid twenties by their looks. they all took up positions in a line parallel to Brisky's fleet, but no one moved immediately.

"Language!" Hope suddenly hissed, causing some eyes to focus on her, only to see Alaska hobbling over toward her fleet, eyes glued onto the last person who had come up, who also looked back at her with a similar expression. for a moment the two just stare at each other, until one person pats the girl on the back, sending her forwards right at Alaska, giving her a giant hug while burying her face in her shoulder.

Alaska Responds by dropping her one crutch and hugging the girl back, seeming just as happy as the girl is.

Letting them continue for a moment Brisky let out a sigh and glanced to Intrepid before walking forward, toward the other fleet line. "Let's go introduce ourselves. That is how these bodies are supposed to be used."

"R-right." Intrepid replied with a worried glance at the other fleet before following behind Brisky.

Stopping a couple meters away from the other line, Brisky simply stood for a moment before speaking, directing her words to the sundress clad woman and the redhead beside her. " I am Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya, Flagship of the north pacific Patrol and Acquisition fleet. which of you leads your fleet?"

The redhead steps forward and speaks, gesturing to the sundress clad woman halfway through, "I am the suppression vessel Enterprise. I am the Acting Flagship of this fleet, and this is our Fog Liaison, Portland."

At her name being mentioned Portland steps forward with a small curtsy, a large smile plastering her face. "Hello Oktyabrskaya, it's been a while." She says, her voice soft and lively.

Oktyabrskaya nods, her expression never changing. "It has i suppose. I was not aware you were acting as a simple liaison, instead of leading a fleet."

"Oh, That? I figured I'd put my mentor plugin to use. It's been very laid-back work!" Portland replied happily.

"Very well. You understand what will be expected of you and those you are mentoring then whilst here?" Oktyabrskaya Asked slowly.

"Yes I'm well aware. However, the ships I was mentoring are no longer under my jurisdiction. Their training is done and I have handed them off to Enterprise here for their fleet assignment. I'm simply along for the fun of it!" Portland replied with a smile.

Oktyabrskaya Turned her gaze to Enterprise. "Same question."

Enterprise straightened at the sudden attention. "We will do everything asked of us to the best of our abilities, ma'am!"

Oktyabrskaya Nodded slowly. "Very well. In respect to the reason you are here, this day shall be free to all ships. You are free to move yours ships among our own and speak with whomever you wish. Report to me at 0900 hours tomorrow morning so we may, decide upon patrol schedules for our combined fleet." Oktyabrskaya said stoically as she turned around and took a step away before stopping. "If you have any questions, ask my second in command, Intrepid." She added before walking off, her body disintegrating into nanomaterial and blowing off toward her ship, leaving nothing behind.

"What a hardass." A voice grumbled from the ranks of Enterprise's fleet.

"Eh, it could be worse," Intrepid said suddenly as she took a step forward, proving to have excellent hearing. "I just soured her mood a bit with trying to see if I could get her and Gato drunk last night. It didn't work. Essex class carrier, Intrepid, pleasure to meet you both!"

Enterprise steps forward with a smile on her face. "Come on Cass, you already know me!"

"Erm . . I do? How the hell do you know my old human name?" Intrepid asks, clearly anxious at hearing the name she hadn't used in what sometimes felt like forever.

Enterprise visibly slumps at this. "You seriously don't remember me?"

" . . .No?"

"Oh for the love of pete- it's me, Emily! Your cousin!" Enterprise declared.

". . . . Which side of the family?" Intrepid asked, still not quite remembering.

"Your mother's side." Enterprise said as she pinched her nose in exasperation. " My mom was Krystyn."

"Oh I remember you now!" Intrepid exclaimed in sudden realization as she runs forward and tackles enterprise in a hug, seemingly out of the blue.

"Oh, guess they know each other." Chernova whispered with a smile.

"Right then, I believe introductions are in order!" Alaska suddenly said as she hobbled over to the three of them, the other girl nearly hanging off her shoulder like a leech.

"Uh, who should start?" Intrepid muttered as she looked at Enterprise.

"Is it not proper human etiquette for the hosts to introduce themselves first?" Portland suddenly asked.

"Yeah, I suppose it is," Intrepid said with a smile before calling out. "Alright, everyone down to the lobby!"

Hearing her words the entire fleet smiled and instantly began heading back to the building, and the stairway down, hoping to get comfortable and quickly rearrange the seating in the lobby itself.

Looking back at Enterprise's fleet, Intrepid sees none of them moving, and all of them looking confused. "Ah, right sorry. I have a lobby, a sitting and gathering room inside. It'll be more comfortable to meet and greet there than standing on my flight deck. Don't worry, there are a lot of chairs!" Intrepid then explains with a smile as she points to where to head and promptly leads the way.

As everyone heads down Molotov holds at the doorway at the bottom of the stairs, watching while everyone passes by her. At least until a telling noise came from the stairs and she looked to see Alaska falling down the stairs. "Watch out!" Molotov called out as she moved into the stairwell, arms out to catch her.

And catch her she did!

Alaska opened her eyes slowly, ending up staring at Molotov. "Ouch, thanks for the save." She finally said, tensing a bit as he did.

"You okay?" Molotov asked in a worried tone as she set alaska down against the frame of the door.

"I've seen better days, but I'll be fine." Alaska responded with a half smile.

"Well if you say so. C'mon, everyone will have sat down already and be waiting on us." Molotov says as she walks in and takes a seat close to the door. A moment later, Alaska, the other girl, and Hope come in as well, two of them taking seats that are open near the door, with Scylla seeming to guard it from being taken, while Hope steps up to Alaska's chair and begins looking her over.

"Alright, now that everyone is here and comfortable we can begin!" Intrepid exclaims from her own chair. "For those of you from Enterprise's fleet that didn't hear, my name's Intrepid, her cousin, and the Second in command of this fleet! In order we have Roe and her sister Hammann, both Sims class destroyers. Leningrad class destroyer Baku, and Ognevoy class destroyer Vlastny who is our youngest member. Then we have Molotov, a Kirov Class Cruiser, Mobile and her sister Topeka, Cleveland Class Cruisers. Pensacola class Cruiser Salt lake city, just call her lake." Intrepid took a breath for moment then continued. "Aurora here is a Pallada class cruiser, while Chervona Ukraina is a Admiral Nakhimov class cruiser and takes care of the destroyer girls. And finally, our newest member to the fleet, Scylla, Minotaur class light cruiser! Oh, and the other Fog in our fleet, Gato, is around as well. Somewhere."

Enterprise stands up and looks once around the room as she begins "Alright! As you all have heard I'm the fleet's flagship and carrier Enterprise. You all also know Alaska to some degree I hope, as she's the main reason we're here. Alaska and Guam are my second and third in command respectively." She points to both of us and takes a sip from a glass of what looks like soda. "The new battlecruiser to the fleet is Samoa. Our contingent of heavy cruisers are a bunch of clowns but they get the job done. Helena and Fall River are both Baltimore-class. Astoria over there in the corner is a New Orleans-class, and Augusta is a Northampton-class." she points at everyone as she lists them off, getting nods or waves from some at random.

"The light cruisers are a lovely group too. Cheyenne… Cheyenne where are you?- oh there you are. Cheyenne is a Fargo-class, and she's the mother of the group so to speak. Savannah over there by Guam is a Brooklyn-class, and Juneau is over there hiding behind Helena. She's a Juneau-class cruiser and is also Helena's sister. Oakland is a modified Atlanta-class, and Pasadena is a Cleveland-class, as well as the new girl." pausing to take a drink from her glass before continuing.

"Our destroyers will always have a place in my heart. Probably right next to the dead tissue from every heart attack they've given me. Thank you all for sitting together for once. From left to right we have Hailey, La Vallette, Healy, and Taylor. They're all Fletcher-class. Turner is a Gearing-class, and Samuel B. Roberts is a destroyer escort with a long ass class name. Just call her Roberts and I can guarantee she won't yell at you."

"Hey! You got us mixed up again!" Two of them yell at Enterprise.

"Whoops, oh well. Moving on we have Victoria and Atascosa. Those two are our nanomaterial tankers, and they help us remain combat-ready. Then we have our three LST's, which carry our PT boats during really shitty weather. And last but not least we have our PT boats. I'm not gonna list you guys off because it's too much work. The squadron leader is over there with the cowboy hat. She's nicknamed Lightning, and if electricity starts flying just make sure you're as far away from her as possible."

"Now that I've successfully bored you all half to death, I'm done." Enterprise finished with another drink before she sits down. Within seconds Intrepid's people start pulling out the remaining bottles of Vodka, pouring them into glasses and passing them around to anyone who wants one.

By the door Hope is talking with Alaska, and over at the other side of the room Scylla and Topeka look around, glancing over the arrangement of new ships, their numbers more than they expected.

"So, I couldn't help but notice Alaska glance at you earlier, Scylla right?" Guam asks as she comes over to the two of them.

"Hmm? Oh yeah. This is Topeka, Mobile's sister. She was glaring at me?"

"Glancing, not glaring. she seemed to be worried about you, or fearful. Have you talked already?"

"A little bit, just once yesterday though. I think she's afraid of me." Scylla said as she took a sip from her glass and scowling before putting it under the one tap and pouring some ice tea in with her vodka.

"Scylla mentioned that when she was talking with Alaska she mentioned that your fleet normally does infrastructure attacks, is that right?" Topeka suddenly asked her eyes filled with a strangely predatory glint.

"Y-yeah. Why?"

Topeka seems to grin to herself evilly making Scylla tap her over the head with her metal arm. "Ow, what was that for, that thing hurts!"

"If you get a question you should probably respond to it." Scylla said as she flexes her metal hand, bringing Guam's attention to it.

"Um, is that real? Your hand I mean. It's a glove right?"

Scylla smiled in response, making Guam shiver for a reason she didn't understand. "No, its real. Got my arm and shoulder ruined right before I was inducted, and it couldn't be healed so it was replaced instead. Wanna test it?"

"What do you mean?" She replied nervously. What does she mean by test?

"Hit it, strike it, arm wrestling, that kind of thing." Scylla said with a grin. "I can probably change its shape with its nanomaterials too if I wanted. Haven't tried that though. Maybe I'll turn it into a sword?"

"So it's completely made of nanomaterials then? You can manipulate it?"

"Sure probably, I haven't tried though, what do you think Topeka, sword, rifle?"

"Hammer." Topeka said instantly with a smile as she leaned back against the wall.

"Good idea!" Scylla said with an insane smile as she held out her arm. In seconds it began glowing slight and shifting its shape, mostly in the lower arm. Another second later it had formed into a hammer, but with the head down by her elbow. "Well that's not what I expected." Scylla muttered as she looked over her arm, finding a latch on it. "Oh I made it spring loaded by accident!" She said in realization just as the latch came undone. The spring did its job, and the hammer swung away from her elbow in a broad arc that landed it right on the table, letting out a loud and audible crack that echoed throughout the room, startling many. "Oops"

"Jesus, give someone a heart attack!" Guam swore at Scylla.

"I might have actually. Oops." Scylla said as she heard Mobile called to by Alaska, and saw her run over to a chair near the doors. "Isn't that her sister?"

"Yes. That's not good," Guam notes, before looking back at Sylla and pointed to her side. "Are you okay?"

Scylla looks at her in confusion until she looks over a Topeka, who is wide eyed, shaking slightly, and holding a small dagger into Scylla's metal arm, the blade having slipped between pieces of metal. "Oh I'm fine. looks like I set Topeka off though." Scylla said as she slowly shifted her arm back to normal and then grabbed Topek by both shoulders. "Now what did Mobile say to do if this happened? Oh right! Calm down now Topeka, a loud noise doesn't always mean we're under attack. No one firing at us, there's no need for violence right now yeah? That comes later when we're on missions, okay?"

After a few seconds Topeka stops shaking and her eyes returned to normal. Slowly she move her arm holding the knife and it dissolves into nanomaterial. " I- I'm okay. I'm okay. that just, startled me. Sorry, did I stab you?"

"Little bit, but it just caught my metal arm, so nothing important got hit." Scylla replied with a smile. "Getting rusty?"

Topeka cracked a smirk as she grabbed her glass off of the counter and drank all of it in one go. " Maybe. . . . okay, I'm good now." She said with a content sigh as she looked around and see's her sister crouched down with Alaska by another girl, and Hope nearby. "Looks like I'm not the only jumpy one!"

"Shall we go take a look then?" Scylla asked as Guam was already heading over.

"Sure, why not. I'm kind of curious as to what her jumpiness is from." Topeka said with a slightly cruel grin.

The two of them could already see Guam talking to Alaska and walked over, Scylla talking first. "So, what broke?"

Alaska glares at Scylla with absolutely no remorse for her comment. "As I was saying before you interrupted me, we don't know. The loud noise scared the hell out of her and she froze up. Mobile says she was having some sort of flashback." Alaska explains in an irritated tone.

"Oh, so shellshock basically, that's always fun." Topeka says sarcastically, knowing it far too well for her good, if the scratch on Scylla's metal arm was any indication.

"I believe the proper term is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Regardless, unless it happened right after I joined the Fog then there shouldn't be anything that would be the cause of this." Alaska says surely.

"It may have occurred when she was, enlisted." Hope suggests suddenly, her tone sour. "Sometimes the Fog that catch people are, less than gentle."

"N-no . . .Sis is right. I-it was right after she disappeared." Samoa said with a whimper, Alaska leaning forward and saying something to her. "I-I was on break a few days after you disappeared and… I bent over to grab my wallet from under the counter… something out front exploded . . . .When I got up everyone in the front of the store was…"

"It's alright, you don't need to say anymore." ALaska says as she hugs her shoulders.

"There was blood everywhere…" Samoa begins to weep, setting Scylla off.

"Boom, mashed people." She says with a light chuckle, imagining all the people that ever had bullied and ignored her.

Having been listening in on the conversation up to that point, Chernova gets up and storms over and grabs Scylla's ear. "Alright that's that's enough of that! You may be new, but I will not have you harassing someone when they are having difficulty speaking about something as it is. You're coming this way, now!"

"Ow that's my ear! Chernova that's connected!" Scylla complains as she is led away, feeling like it would be impossible to argue with the motherly cruiser.

Chernova nearly throws Scylla into a chair at the other side of the lobby, and a second later Topeka follows after them, her sister glaring at her until she is away and takes a seat. "That girl is obviously having a bad time. You do not go and push your own ideals and comments on people when they are like that, do I make myself clear!?"

"R-right." Scylla said as Topeka simply nodded frantically.

{You and I are going to have a talk later.} Alaska's voice suddenly echoed in a communication channel to Scylla, making her scowl even more.

"Topeka I expected to make some kind of comment." Lake said from a nearby chair. "She and Mobile are not all there, but at least mobile has her understanding of decency and social skills intact."

"Yes, it appears you don't do you Scylla?" Aurora then asked, sounding like she was scolding her.

"Sure I do, I can talk with anyone, my inner thoughts just leak out sometimes." Scylla responded with a shrug.

Lake, Aurora and Chernova all look at each other and sigh. "Looks like Hope is going to have to do another string of Psych evaluations again, huh?" Aurora says with a sigh, remembering that if one person gets evaluated, the whole fleet does as well.

"Indeed. I had figured she might be a little off from the events and topics of discussion she joined in last night, but I had hoped otherwise." Chernova said as she looked at Scylla. "Let me make this clear. You will not make an such comments to that girl again, and especially not the any of the destroyers, understood?"

"I don't get what is-" Scylla began to say.


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors note: Sorry for the wait, here's the next chapter!**

The next morning Intrepid stood on Oktyabrskaya's deck with Enterprise and Portland. It was still five minutes to 0900 hours, and Oktyabrskaya did not say anything, seemingly intent on only starting the meeting between them when the time came.

"So, enjoy the party for the most part?" Intrepid asked as she looked to Enterprise, knowing that Brisky did not deny small talk before a meeting.

"It was... eventful." Enterprise said with a sigh. It had been a good night except for one major fault, that fault being a couple members of the two fleets getting on each others nerves. It could have been worse, but it could have been a lot better as well."

"That's good, as long as everyone had fun!" Intrepid said with a smile.

"Except… well not everyone had fun." Enterprise started, sounding frustrated. "One of your fleet members was an absolute dick to Alaska and Samoa."

"Ugh, Topeka?"

"Nope. That chick with the fuckin' robot arm. What was her name again?"

"Oh Scylla. Damn. I was hoping if trouble arose it'd be Topeka, at least then we'd be able to deal with it as we know what she's like."

"Alaska and Samoa weren't at the party. At all. Which tells me that either both of them passed the fuck out or didn't want to see Scylla again."

"I see. I'll look into it. The problem is that Scylla is new so I personally haven't had much interaction with her yet. Hope and Molotov have informed me through initial talks and a mission that she's extremely intelligent and efficient in combat. But also that she's likely sociopathic and possibly vindictive, sadistic and plain unstable. Honestly not the best combination of traits."

"Agreed. My main priority though is to make sure Scylla doesn't get slammed with nine twelve-inch shells. From what I've observed of her, Alaska is very protective of her friends, and even moreso her family. A few weeks ago Guam got damaged by a guided missile cruiser. Alaska chased the thing away and immobilized it before returning to help Guam."

"Sounds useful for kill- Ah right you mainly get demolitions missions. I doubt Scylla is stupid enough to pick a fight intentionally, at least I hope so."

"Just give Scylla a warning on behalf of my entire fleet; If you piss off Alaska and she comes after you, we won't be able to stop her."

"I'll be sure to. Don't want the two of them switching places in Hope's care and-"

"We shall begin the meeting." Brisky suddenly spoke up, stopping Intrepid from finishing. "Your fleet is combined with ours for a time, so patrols will be split between combined units our fleets. Understood?"

"Aye Ma'am." enterprise responded.

"Good. To decide how we shall organize the patrol fleets it would be most efficient for some individuals from each fleet to enter a simulated battle to prove their capability. In this way patrol fleets can be organized in a way that is most efficient and productive to all members. The simulated battle will be set to begin at noon with six ships to each side excluding assault and suppression ships. Decide who will be partaking on each side before then. Dismissed." Brisky explained before turning and walking down the length of her deck before turning into one of the doors.

"Well, looks like it's a battle royale." Intrepid said with shrug, clearly not against or for it.

"Well this is certainly… different. Usually we take volunteers and just draw straws." Enterprise rubbed her arm awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

"If only we were so lucky." Intrepid chuckled. "We get to have volunteers for some missions, but most of the time Brisky just decides. Luckily a simulation means that no one will take any major damage I'm assuming."

"We've done mock battles in the past as training, so… do we just pick at random…?"

"A balance probably. Some skilled and unskilled to see how well orders can be given and received, and to see who can adapt to others tactics. I think Brisky uses these simulations as a way to get combat data too." Intrepid says with a sigh. "Luckily we've got time to decide."

"I've got a few ideas of who to send, both experienced and our very small stock of inexperienced, but first we need to wake up the party animals."

"That's true. Most of your girls went back to their ships to sleep, yeah?"

"God I hope so. You never know with some of 'em."

"Heh, make a lobby to hang out in with comfy couches. I guarantee most will end up sleeping there if given a chance." Intrepid says with a laugh as she walks to the edge of Brisky's deck and forms a walkway of panels up to her own.

"I've dedicated all of my belowdecks area to nanomaterial and Thanatonium storage. There isn't a place to put a lobby."

"Wow that's nice. Brisky makes us store our own extra nanomaterials on each of our own ships. Coming?" Intrepid ask as she steps into the panel walkway up to her deck.

"Yeah I'm comin'. All those nanomaterials ain't even for the other ships. I use it for my planes. I can get sixteen B-25 bombers if I use everything."

Intrepid lets out a long whistle as she walks up the ramp. "Nice. All I ever get to make are long range scout planes. If I want to shoot something I need to use the missile tubes I had to make hanging off my back and around the two sides of my flight deck."

"Seriously? That's lame as hell! That defeats the entire purpose of you being an aircraft carrier!"

"Yes, yes it does. I have enough Nanomaterials to go make at least a half dozen flights of fighters, but never get the chance and instead have about four dozen corrosive ICBM's sitting around my hull. Inactive of course. Never get to use those either." Intrepid says with a scowl as she gets up to her flight deck and sighs.

"This is probably also why this feels so weird. We don't do patrols. I use my planes to do the patrolling and we all get to sit back and relax."

"Yeah where as we do patrols, have to sink ships we find, and get sent on kill missions when I find ships that try to cross the ocean. I'm a glorified scanning station sometimes it feels like!"

"Well, to be entirely fair our missions have higher risk than yours do, but yours are more taxing on the mind. While I was with Tirpitz we did a couple kill missions…" Enterprise shakes her head to clear it.

"You don't sound happy about that. You prefer to blow up people's houses?" Intrepid joked.

"We don't go after houses. But at least when we finish our mission there's always enough rubble that we don't have to see the people we kill."

"Whoa calm down, I didn't mean anything by it. That's a good thing yeah? All we get is kill missions where my people go and sink sailors just following orders. Hell, some of them seem to enjoy it. It's why Hope insists on tri-monthly psych evaluations at the least." Intrepid said putting her hand up a bit before scratching her head, realizing her little teasing went a bit far.

"It's alright, I'm just worn out. A year is a long damn time to be doing shit like this without more than a week break every few months."

"You don't get regular breaks? Brisky runs us hard but even she gives us breaks. Who's your superior?"

"Montana and Yamato." Enterprise sighed. "Essentially the entire Pacific Admiralty."

"Want me to tell Brisky to pass on a message about it? She's strict and cold, but fair to us most of the time. Might help."

"Don't bother. Yorktown was the last Fog that tried and she got shitcanned. They sent her to the Aleutians for patrol duty last time I checked."

"That . . . . Would explain why I kept getting a Fog signature up north a few times about a month or two ago. Was wondering about that. Ah well, then I'll just drop it for now and go tell my people to . . . Is that Alaska and Scylla?" Intrepid suddenly asked as she stared down her deck by a pair of rather large AA gun emplacements.

"... It would appear so. Well… they haven't killed each other yet, and Alaska is dressed in her usual clothes so she must be feeling better." Enterprise stared hopefully at the situation unfolding until Alaska snarled in frustration and slowly made her way toward the pair with a crutch under each arm.

"Flagship Enterprise, requesting permission to go out on maneuvers and firing exercises." Alaska snapped after she straightened up and saluted.

"Your call." Intrepid says with a shrug as she walked past them over to Scylla. "C'mon Scylla, we're waking everyone up and informing them of our first combined fleet action."

"Oh sweet, we going on a joint kill mission?!" Scylla asked excitedly, her metal fingers twitching a bit.

"Can't say, not until everyone's awake, let's go."

"Killjoy!" SCylla growled as she began running over to Intrepids tower to head down to the lobby.

"I'll see you in a bit Enterprise!" Intrepid calls back with a wave, seeing her and Alaska either arguing or coming to an agreement.

Following Scylla down into the lobby Intrepid finds that most people are already awake, only a couple of the destroyers are still sleeping soundly, despite Chernova and Aurora's best tries to awaken them. It takes nearly a half hour to get them fully awake and lucid and get some drink into everyone, but once that's done everyone sits in the circle of chairs with Intrepid standing at the one edge. Surprisingly, Even Gato is present, though she looks completely unamused and unaffected by everything around her.

"So, that's the situation. To figure the most efficient patrols, Brisky wants us to do a Six on Six Fleet battle simulation with Enterprise's people."

"I don't see a problem with that." Aurora said with a smile. "A simulated battle is a good way to get to know people and their skills, and no one gets hurt either."

"I agree, who's going to be fighting in it though?" Molotov asked as she leaned back in her chair.

Intrepid let out a sigh as Hope entered the room and stood by the door. "Before I get to that I guess, need to announce something Hope?"

Hope nodded and comes in, everyone's attention turning to her. "Yes, thank you Intrepid. It's come to my attention that as we have two new members of out fleet, it is time for psych evaluations again. As such those who do not take part in the simulation will be taking Psych evals while it is underway, and those in the simulation will have theirs afterwards. There will be some time for evaluations before the simulation as well, so Scylla, meet on my deck after this meeting is done."

"Dammit!" Scylla swore, earning a glare from Hope as Topeka laughed at her.

"Topeka, you're right after her."

"Aw shit."

"Wait, you said two new members, didn't you?" Lake asked as she raised a brow and looked around, noticing a shadow in the doorway.

"Yes I did." Hope said with a smile. "You can come in now. Everyone, meet our newest member of the fleet!"

A second later a girl stepped into the room. She was maybe fifteen years old from her looks and had short dark brown hair that had a natural curl to it. Her eyes were a strange gray color, and she wore a simple yet cute black sun dress and simple black shoes. Standing there for a moment she bows to everyone and then stands up with a smile. "Greetings everyone. I'm the Hybrid Submarine S-36, please feel free to call me Tridtsat Shest if you'd like."

"She's the girl we found." Scylla muttered instantly.

Hope nodded, "Yes, and unfortunately she awoke with near complete amnesia. She remembers things like language and some morals and what weapons and clothing and the like are, but she doesn't remember anything about her life or history."

"Oh you poor dear!" Chernova exclaimed at hearing that. Shest just shrugged.

"I don't remember, so there's no need to be sad about it. I'll just do my best with this life!" She proclaimed with a smile.

"Shest will be getting trained by Gato later, after the simulation battle. We do need to decide who will take part in it however, as Brisky wants six people on each side. So the question then becomes who do we have take part, and what overarching strategy do they use?"

"I suggest we vote on who takes part." Molotov suddenly suggested, glancing around as she paused. "That way the team we put in is balanced and won't cause issues."

"The other option is taking volunteers, right?" Baku asks curiously, looking down at her lap.

"That's true." Aurora agreed. "I think we should go with the voting though honestly. The other fleet is rather large, and considering Brisky's last simulation, we'll need a well varied and capable team."

"What was the last simulation?" Scylla asked as she looked at Aurora.

"Oh, it was a simulation of attacking a bunch of human controlled fortified islands. Their fortifications were in choke points and kill zones, often with overlapping zones of fire. It was just a cruiser simulation and we had no missiles to use in the sim, so it was very difficult to complete it without any of us sinking in the simulator like she wanted."

"Took us four tries if I recall." Lake said with a sigh, sounding tired just recalling it.

"Sounds about right." Molotov grimaced. "Brisky's simulation are extremely hard. in fact I think I heard Gato actually complain about them once. Apparently even other fog mental model find her simulations difficult, often with less than a thirty percent victory chance."

"But this will be a versus simulation, right?" Scylla asked curiously.

"Yes, but there will probably be lots of islands, choke points, and probably neutral human forces in the sim as well to complicate matters. Sometimes she even throws in random weather changes and storm surges." Chernova said in a worried tone that was slightly wistful. "There was even one with Water spouts!"

Scylla looked at them for a moment, her expression becoming extremely intrigued and excited. "I so want in on this now!"

Intrepid looked around at everyone and sighed. "Show of hands for those who want Scylla in the Simulation?"

Aurora, Mobile, Topeka, and all the destroyers put up their hands, making Intrepid sigh and look to the destroyers.

"You all just want to see her fight, what about you three?" She ask as she looks to Mobile, Topeka and Aurora.

"I've seen her fight." Mobile says simply. "She's very efficient, if a bit vindictive. She'd be good in a simulation.

"I just want to see if she's as good as Sis says." Topeka said with shrug.

Intrepid let out a sigh and looked to Aurora, who nods. "I have heard she is skilled and wish to see the skills for myself, more than that, I want to see how well she can work in a joint exercise, including following orders and assisting allies. I am also, admittedly, interested in the modifications to her weapons we've heard about."

Intrepid nods and then lets out a sigh. "Alright, Scylla will be one member of the simulation fleet. Now then, is there anyone who wishes to volunteer for flagship duty for it?"

"I will if that is alright." Aurora spoke up confidently.

"Thank you. Then Aurora will command the fleet. Any other volunteers?"

Roe, Hammann, Molotov, Lake, Mobile and Topeka all raised their hands up instantly, with Baku raising hers a second later, and Then Gato even raising her hand.

"Eight of you huh?" Intrepid said with a heavy sigh as she leaned against the arm of her chair.

"Nine technically." Hope said with a chuckle. "Shest tried to raise her hand as well, but I'm not going to allow it until she gets Full training from Gato."

Hearing this Intrepid grins. "Gato, you put your hand up as well. May I ask why?"

"I wish to test the cohesion of the enemy fleet and their compatibility. Confirm."

Intrepid nodded. "Anyone have a problem with Gato joining in?" No one raised their hands. "Alright, that leaves three spots then." Intrepid said as she looked at those who hadn't yet been picked, all looking at her hopefully.

"Baku, why'd you volunteer?"

"I- I um... I don't have as much experience as everyone else and it always feels like I'm being protected, so I want to get better and stop being a drag on everyone else."

"Objections?" Intrepid asked. No one speaking up. "Alright you're on, that leaves two spots." Intrepid said as she looked at Mobile, Topeka and Lake, wanting to have more cruisers in the roster. "Topeka, Lake. Neither of you has fought with Scylla yet, so I want to see how you all do together, understand?"

"Right!" "Of course." They responded.

"Then that settles it, Aurora will lead the simulation fleet comprised of herself, Topeka, Lake, Scylla, Gato and Baku. Remember that she is leading. Failure to follow her orders without reason will mean a loss of marks. And probably getting double patrol duty if Brisky has anything to say about it!"

Everyone shivered at the thought of it.

"Alright. It's decided. The simulation is at noon, so until then everyone is free, except Scylla, Topeka, and Mobile. Go get your psych evals done and-" Intrepid stops when the sound of autocannon fire erupts outside the ship. Scowling Intrepid brings up a panel in front of her. "It appears someone is doing live fire exercises. . . . as I was saying, you three go with Hope. The rest of you are free until noon. If you want to take a look at the other fleet's exercise go ahead. Oh and if any of you in the simulation fleet need to modify weapons do so beforehand and don't get seen."

As everyone left the lobby the sound of engines could be heard, followed by anti aircraft gunfire. Once on Intrepid's deck it was clear to see why as planes soared overhead, getting batted around by a heavy amount of flak coming from one ship, each shot sounding like a small ball striking a bat.

"Did, did that one replace her AA guns with Physical rounds?" Molotov asked as they all stood outside of Intrepids tower, while Hope herded Mobile, Topeka, and Scylla away.

"It looks like it." Intrepid replied as she looked up at the AA fire. "I think they changed their main guns to physical shells as well judging from their looks. "

"I think it's Miss Alaska." Chernova supplied. "The question is why?"

"She probably did it to increase firing range." Molotov said calmly. "Shells can arc their trajectories, so they can hit targets a greater distance away, and their inaccuracy when bombarding land areas is a null point. On the sea though they'd be far more inaccurate even if they got more range out of them. Fire rate would be slower too."

"I think the reason they did it is the noise." Aurora suggested as she look at Hammann covering her ears. "Normal people would have a bad reaction to the noise. I'm surprised they were allowed to alter their weaponry to such a backward degree."

"No idea. I don't think it's much to worry over though." Intrepid said with a grin.

"Why is that?" Lake replied with a curious gaze.

"Because, I caught Topeka and Scylla designing alternate armaments and munitions last night." Intrepid said with a sigh. "Those two may be broken, but I think together they may be the most dangerous weapon designers in existence, simply because neither of them cares for morals when designing weaponry."

"Well we'll get to see what Scylla made in the simulator maybe then." Molotov said, sounding horrified at the prospect as she began walking across the deck. "I'm going to take a nap, and maybe resynch and test the targeting on my Point defense guns. Lasers will always be better for keeping the skies at bay."

"Make sure to be here for the simulator," Intrepid called as others began dispersing as well. "Even if we're not taking part we may be able to learn something off of it. And maybe things will go perfectly smoothly for once, who knows."

A couple hours later everyone had reconvened on Brisky's deck for the simulation, and simply waited for Enterprise's fleet to arrive. A couple minutes later they did, via PT boat of all things, making a few people mutter about what was wrong with using Holographic panes. Once Enterprises fleet was on the deck, Brisky made her appearance, suddenly sitting on the number one gun in front of everyone, right at the end of the central barrel.

"Those chosen for the Simulation, will send me a yes through the comms, without making any movement to show that they have been chosen." Brisky said calmly. After a second she smiled. " Good. I have spent the last hours scanning all ships in the fleet, so that whomever was chosen will have their ships currently active armaments and alterations available in the simulation. This will be a six on six simulation, with each group starting at two separate places on a map of my generation. The first group to be completely sunk loses. All combatants will have their positions on their ships locked to the top of their ships superstructure for the simulation, and all tactics and strategies are available for use as long as no further modification is done to your ships in the simulation. Is this clear?"

Everyone gave nods and confirmations.

"Good. When I tap the barrel of this gun, I shall open a split Concept comms, with those in the simulation in the simulation, and everyone else in the concept comms with me, able to look over the simulation as they please. The induction into a split concept comms is uncomfortable to most hybrids. Is everyone ready?"

Again, everyone give their confirmation.

Brisky let out a cold and calculating smile. "The simulation begins then!" And tapped the barrel of her gun, letting out a ringing sound far higher in pitch than one would think possible as a flash of light eclipses everyone.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Aurora, Gato, Baku, Lake, Topeka, and Scylla all opened their eyes, finding themselves atop their ships, inside the simulation. The water was perfectly calm, and a chain of islands was directly ahead of them, comprised of two large islands, and a couple smaller ones interspaced around seemingly at random. A small storm could be seen in the distance, as well as what looked like some form of floating barricade tween a few of the smaller islands.

"Alright, standard island chain with some evidence of human defences. Probably a base in the center of the chain somewhere," Aurora noted out loud, everyone easily hearing her as because they were in concept comms, even if it was a simulation.

"There are probably going to be coastal defense guns at the very least on some islands, probably in spots that are not easily noticed." Lake added with a sigh. "And maybe even autonomous human ships sailing around."

"Do we get extra points for blowing them up?" Scylla suddenly asked.

"No, not likely." Lake replied with a sigh. "Alright Aurora, what's our plan?"

Aurora thought to herself for a moment as she looked over the islands. With no overhead map of their layout it was difficult to cultivate a strategy, but after a few seconds she smiled. " Topeka, you will go with me down around the large southern island, Lake you'll take Scylla and go around the north most one. Gato, I want you and Baku to push between the island chain and map it out, as well as any possible neutral defenses we can use to our advantage. Do your best not be seen, and keep your eyes peeled for anything of note. Whomever finds the enemy fleet first, tell the rest of us and see if they have seen you. If they have, run. If not, observe them and their numbers. understood?"

"Surface or unsurfaced? Confirm." Gato asks simply.

"Stay underwater so you're not detected, and Baku, stay as close to islands as you can, it should help mask your signature and keep you hidden from the air as well."

"What about aircraft, do we take them down if we locate them?" Topeka asked, the AA guns on her ship, shiny and strange looking, twitching with her clear anticipation.

"Take them out quickly even if you are spotted. The less eyes they may have, the better. Let's go!" Aurora called as all their ships began moving, and Gato disappeared beneath the waves.

After a few moments each of the groups disappeared from eachother direct line of sight, only knowing their positions relative by calculating the comm angles.

"Think we'll find their whole fleet up here?" Scylla asked lake as the two of them went up north, keeping to the edges of islands when possible, and keeping their sensors on.

"Anything is possible, but I think it'd make more sense to find only a few of them. " Lake replied with a smile as the simulated wind blew her hair about. "Hey Baku, you and Gato find anything yet?"

{ . . . . . . Yes and no. There are numerous short range guns in the island chains, and what I think is a cruiser sitting between the two islands. Only one island has a base on it though, so we've snuck by by skirting the empty island. No sign of hostile contacts. . . . um, was that good?"

"Very good dear, nice and informative, both about the area around you and your own position and health."

"Oh, I think I see something!" Scylla suddenly declared with a grin, all of her guns twitching as they followed her gaze. To their port side and far ahead of them, were one, two, three. "I think that's all of them, I see four, no five at least!"

Lake looked and Sighed. "Confirming, Turner, Alaska, Augusta, Samoa, and Savannah. Five ships in total."

{Hmm, Fire a couple shot while turning about.} Came Aurora's order. "Lure them down toward the island chain, but do not go in yet! Gato, do your sensors pick up their sixth ship?}

{Possible contact far to north, unsure of contact alignment. Confirm.}

{Alright we'll start heading up north. Scylla, Lake, feel free to startle them a bit to make them follow you, or panic, whichever happens is fine.}

"Finally I get to shoot something!" Scylla exclaims as both she and Lake Begin firing their guns while turning. Though the first volley misses due to the waves bobbing their targets.

"You missed." Lake said simply as she fired another volley at range, knowing she did not need to hit at this point in time.

"Yeah, let's see if they can block this though!" Scylla screamed maniacally as three of her missile hatches opened, and the missiles inside soared up and out into the sky.

" . . . What is that third missile? I'm not getting a Thanatonium reading off of it." Lake asked as they both finished turning to the south, their main guns pointed and ready to fire more volleys as needed.

Scylla smiled as she looked over to Lake. "A napalm missile, set to detonate at twenty meters above sea level. Should totally coat a single ship in flame, or catch a couple on fire depending on how close they are."

"Only if they don't shoot them down."

"No, if they shoot it down, the napalm is still released from the missile, that's the best part!" Scylla said with a laugh as Lake realized she used the Thanatonium missiles as a cover for the napalm one.

A moment later AA fire lights up the sky behind them as all of them try to shoot Scylla's missiles out of the sky. Another second later, an echoing barrage comes out, and a volley of shell lands all over the water around Lake, and another around Scylla a second later, one catching on her klein field and exploding harmlessly, making her dark green field visible for a second.

"Aw, they have it out for us!" Scylla exclaimed, seemingly happy as she looked to be calculating something while making her ship fish tail back and forth to throw off their aim.

"Yes, but I cannot tell if they are seriously pursuing us or not. Aurora, what's your position?" Lake asks as she fires her rear main guns, nearly getting a hit on Turner.

{Currently heading around the southern islands west side. How are you holding up?}

"We're fine, but what's the plan? We've got at least five of them here sort of chasing us. At this range both of us will be hard pressed to hit them, or them us."

"Oh, I think my missile hit them, I can't tell from here though." Scylla suddenly said, sounding dejected.

{Alright I want you to, oh, planes. Topeka, blow them up please, I'll help.} Aurora suddenly said. {What was I, ah yes. I want you both to lead them to the edge of the island chain and then curve into it, use the island to weave about and lead them in. Baku has marked the location of the neutral gun points, so do your best to lead them into firing lines of those guns with your own shots or torpedoes. Once they are in the island chain, head to the central area with the neutral cruise and head through it, but ignore the cruiser!}

"Huh, why?" Scylla asked in annoyance as her rear gun fired, striking someone's klein field's edge.

{Because, Gato and Baku are setting up a present for them. You have your orders, make it happen please.}

"Fine, but I won't like it unless I break something!" Scylla declared as her rear gun began firing at the fastest speed they could.

"Just keep their attention." Lake said as her rear gun began firing as well, alternating its fire with Scylla's as she begins weaving in large arcs. A second later a shell struck her klein field, making it spark pink for a second. "Right, we're turning into the island chain now."

{Confirmed, keep their attention. You just need them in the islands.}

"Sweet, more reasons to fire some missiles then!" Scylla grinned as four missiles flew out of their tubes, the first two as Thanatonium Cluster rounds, and the second two asNapalm. "I am so glad I went and altered over half of my missiles!"

"Oh dear." Lake said with a shake of her head, firing off a salvo of six missiles out to add to the barrage as shells collided around her, another striking the aft of her field. "I hope they follow us."

"Um, I think I saw smoke." Scylla mentions right as she goes fully behind the first island.

Lake looks back and sighs, seeing Turner laying smoke, likely attempting to use it to dodge the missiles. "Yes, they are."

"GRRRRR I wonder if I can," Scylla begins muttering with a crazed face before grinning. "Got it, the napalm will detonate at 30 meters above their targets last positions, and the Cluster warhead at 80. Lets see them dodge that!"

"Well we won't see if they can or not." Lake says as she turns fully around the island. "Follow the plan for now. Weave through the islands heading for the open area between them."

"Yes!"

"Huh, oh boy. . . . . . . . . . . . . Aurora, how're you doing? We're almost into the main area, but can't tell if we're being followed or not."

{Hmm, what? Oh sorry, Topeka just sighted two of them, so one probably split off from the group you encountered. We're about to be in firing range in a moment and we're pretty evenly matched I think. You two just keep harassing them for now while Gato works, Baku, come out on the west side to flank Oakland and Augusta. Hit them with Torpedoes if possible.}

{Roger!} Came Baku's reply.

" . . .So, what now then?" Scylla asked a second later, sounding very depressed.

"Half your speed and turn back into the islands," Lake ordered as they came out into the main area, ducking around a shore gun on an island so close to it that it could not depress down to hit them. "We'll move back into the chain and see if they are taking the bait. If they are we'll toy with them and pull them into the open area. If not, we go out and lead them on a chase around the south."

" . . . . That sounds kind of . . . . "

"Don't even Scylla. We're following Aurora's commands for this sim, and she wants us to harass them. End of story!"

"Ugh, fine. I hope they chase us at least!"

An explosion suddenly echoed across the island, a plume of smoke rising up from the west side.

"Who exploded?!" Scylla exclaimed as she and Lake lazily came around an island, finding no ships south of them, and the tail end of one going north. "Crap, they're trying to rejoin up north!"

{Baku took one out.} Came Topeka's voice, quickly followed by Aurora.

{Baku head north with us, Gato how's it going?}

{Preparations complete. Confirm}

{Good. Lake, you and Scylla head up north. Gato follow them up as deep as you can be and as close to their position as possible to stay hidden. We'll catch them in a pincer move!}

{Finally!} Scylla exclaimed as she and Lake went full ahead and pushed to the north, only getting Gato's location once the entire time they traveled.

A moment later a salvo of missiles soared up into the sky and back down, a chain of explosions echoing out across the islands.

{Ah, they keep targeting me! Bitches took down my field!} Topeka complained.

"Can you get away?" Lake quickly asked.

{Nope! Going out in a blaze of glory it looks like!} Topeka replied as a massive spire of smoke flew up into the sky, all of her missiles being fired at once.

{Lake, we'll need you and Scylla over her quickly, I can't take on five at once and Topeka won't last long, she just lost two turrets.}

{We're almost there.} Lake replied instantly. {Coming around the island now.}

Coming around the island, Lake and Scylla could see the five enemy ships, along with Aurora and Topeka taking blow for blow. Topeka's field was gone and two of her turrets were complete flaming wrecks, while her remaining guns fired incessantly as her missiles came down like flaming rain.

"Targets sighted. Permission to engage?" Lake requested calmly.

{Granted. Scylla, Baku's remade some torpedoes so both of you fire them and engage at will. We need to chase confusion in the ranks. Gato, you are free engage as you see fit.} Aurora stated quickly and efficiently.

{Willingly!} Scylla declared as she shifted her ship and loosed a salvo of torpedoes as her guns began firing in an alternating pattern, one after another.

Made aware of their presence one ship stops suddenly, a plume of smoke growing off and partially hiding it as missiles flew into the air and angled toward Lake and Scylla.

"Incoming missiles. Take them out Scylla!" Lake called as a shell blew apart on the Klein field just as all of her AA opened up at the missiles.

"I have just the thing!" Scylla laughed maniacally as a pair of missiles flew away from her ship, only to break apart into a number of smaller missiles each, the smaller missiles heading towards their larger quarry with angry intent.

"Anti-Ballistic Missiles?(ABM) Do you have any normal missiles?" Lake asked in surprise at Scylla launching yet another kind of missile.

"I have a few!" Scylla said defiantly. "Just not many because there's so many different types to use!"

Just then, multiple torpedo targets appeared on their radar from the north, Gato making her move and striking multiple ships with 2 salvo's.

"How many are down?" Scylla inquired as her guns keep firing as if on auto.

"I cannot tell for sure from the smoke unfortunately. But I see Alaska charging us." Lake said as her guns aligned and fired, being deflected by Alaska's klein field.

"She's desperate!" Scylla declared as she watched her spin around all of her guns aiming at her and lake and firing suddenly. The rest of Scylla's missile tubes opened up as her guns continued firing, and just as she saw Alaska's' shots soar towards her, and only her, everything went black.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Suddenly everyone was in the Concept comms, and a map of the overarching area sat above Brisky, who had a cold expression on her face, as did Intrepid and Enterprise who stood to the sides.

"The simulation is canceled due to outside involvement. A moment ago Intrepid and Enterprise discovered with a pair of scout planes, a large US Fleet that is heading to our position."

Intrepid stepped forward with a sigh. "They managed to avoid the regular Fog shore patrols, and are heading here with six destroyers, four missile frigates, two missile cruisers and a single modernized heavy cruiser, along with six squadrons of Fighter bombers as support. We believe they may have been brought here by accidentally thinking that the firing tests earlier today were shots from a fleet allied with them, and in need of assistance."

Enterprise then spoke up, looking dejected and worried, a scowl painting her face as if she had received terrible news. "The US Fleet is heading directly towards us, and as Fog orders say no Human forces my utilize the sea, our action is clear."

Brisky smiled at this. "All forces beside myself, Hope, Intrepid, Enterprise and S-36 will head out and crush the Human fleet. Females may be taken captive if the option is present. Otherwise there are to be no survivors to dissuade them from entering the ocean again. I Repeat, No survivors! Is this clear?"

Everyone of Intrepids fleet let out voices of understanding ,while enterprise's did as well, albeit far less loudly, and most of them nervously.

"Good. Enterprise and Intrepid will provide Aerial Assistance via their planes from here." Brisky added, her smile turned wicked somehow. "Aurora and Alaska will cooperatively lead the operation. You leave as soon as all forces are ready. Good hunting!" Brisky said with a glint in her eyes and a small but violently calm smile on her lips as the Concept communication disappeared, putting everyone back onto her deck, with her nowhere to be found.

"Alright you heard her! Let's get to work!" Enterprise called out, setting her people moving just as everyone else began rushing out to their ships.

"Sweet some real combat now!" Topeka chimed with a grin.

"Yeah, now we can try out those new missiles, out of a simulation!" Scylla replied. As she followed behind Topeka, their ships nearby in the same direction.

"Hmm? Oakland just pinged me." Topeka muttered as she and Scylla walked across the water, with Mobile and Molotov right behind them. "Black betty . . . . . Hell yeah!"

"Meh," Scylla said with a shrug as she made it to her ship and dropped on the deck. "Oh right, you guys put up as much of a fight as I'd thought!" she declared as she opened a channel to Alaska.

A growl may as well have come in reply. {Gee, thanks. We're better outfitted for attacking humans, not other Fog ships. You'll see when we meet this fleet.}

"Looking forward to it. By the way, did any of my missiles from my first salvo hit you?"

{Yes. Your fuckin' napalm hit me.}

"Sweet, I hadn't had a chance to test it, how was it?"

{About as annoying as trying to comb your hair when it has a ton of knots in it.}

"Ha, your field probably caught it yeah? Would've done so much more damage on an unshielded vessel."

{It was still annoying! I couldn't see anything through the flames!}

"Sweet, works like a charm then! Did you see how the cluster munitions worked? Topeka was wondering if she needed to alter the spread pattern." Scylla asked as she willed her ship forward.

{The spread pattern's fine. Don't change a thing. But uh… could you send me the design of those interception missiles?}

"My ABM's? Yeah I can send them to you. Their good for taking out medium to large missiles, but faster targets are harder. They also need a rather large amount of material. It's why I only carry two of them myself."

{Awesome. Thanks. Also… you got lucky, I had you dead to rights.}

"Oh? Did you not notice Gato fifty meters to the north of you? Or her torpedoes careening toward ya?" Scylla teased as the whole fleet began moving forward.

{Did you not notice the floatplane about to kamikaze into you?} Alaska snapped back.

Scylla let out a laugh. "Floatplane? What's the point in a floatplane? It wouldn't have the speed to punch through my field! . . . . Did I lose my field? I can't recall now. Hmm?"

{Thanatonium is a lovely thing, y'know? If my broadside didn't get you the plane was going to.}

"Hmm? What does that have to do with-"

{Alright everyone, coordinates of the enemy fleet have been sent!} Came Auroras voice, stopping Scylla from continuing. {The operation proceed like this. Enterprise's people will be split, some staying back and providing long range fire, while others push forward. We'll be joining them in the push forward. The enemy are likely standard naval personnel, so unless one of them has some trick up their sleeves we'll do this by standard procedure. Push forward, hit them with full power and take out whatever is closest in order. As Brisky said, our orders are to leave no survivors, so once the enemy fleet is dealt with we'll scour the wrecks for survivors and anything salvageable. Understood?}

Everyone of Auroras people let out cries of understanding, some more energetic than others.

"Sorry about that, Aurora was telling us the battle plan. Looks like we're going with an aggressive strike. You staying back and firing at range or pushing with us for a real fight?"

{I've got a maximum range of twenty-eight miles, what do you think? I'm going to be leading a cruiser squadron along the right side to split their fire. That was the entire purpose of our armament change, to have a longer range.}

"Inaccurate range," Scylla said with a chuckle. "Once we get into it, want me to save you a ship to scuttle?"

{No need, I'll be putting shells on target long before you get into range.}

"That's not what I meant!" Scylla said darkly as she closed the line and opened one to the rest of her own fleet. "So, besides the fact we're rushing forward, what's the plan? Or is the plan open as long as we win?"

{You would have heard if you hadn't been chatting with your girlfriend over there.} Molotov said with snark.

"I'm pretty sure she hates me honestly," Scylla said as she shrugged while sitting in a newly fashioned captain's chair, on the top of her ships structure. "That or she is waiting for the chance to tie me up in my own bed and-"

{Do not finish that line of thought kindly.} Chernova said suddenly, sounding very serious. {There are children present!}

"Oh, right. Sorry." Scylla apologised before coughing a bit. "Seriously though, will our strategy literally be to just shoot what is closest?"

{To an extent,} Aurora replied calmly. {Our dear allies are having their destroyers move with us. So we'll be splitting our forces. Heavy cruisers will go to the sides in a longer move to flank and keep the enemies attention. Destroyers and light cruisers will thrust right into the heart of their forces, taking them apart from sitting with torpedoes and cannon fire. AA is up to every to add to. If everything goes well this should take no longer than an hour to take out all ships and. . . . . And clean up after ourselves.}

{I can live with that!} Topeka exclaimed as their sensors all lit up with distant contacts.

"As can I!" Scylla exclaimed as she brought up all her control panels and grinned at all the contacts. "Shouldn't Alaska and them be firing soon if they think so highly of their kinetic shells range?"

Barely a second after mentioning it a resounding roar of shells echoed out from behind them, soaring towards the pathetically unprotected human fleet.

{Impressed now?} Mobile teased as the shells, now ahead of them, began colliding with seawater and naval steel alike. Saltwater flew up into air alongside the sounds of fire and ripping steel, making it impossible to immediately ascertain just how many shells had struck targets, or how much damage had been done, though one ship clearly was split in twain from a shell detonating its magazines.

{It is pretty loud.} Topeka agreed, sounding a bit irked.

{My ears hurt now.} Hammann added.

"Meh. It's not bad i suppose" Scylla muttered as she could see the enemy ships ahead of them, including the planes above and some just fired missiles. "Permission to engage with missiles?"

{Granted, all ships open up on ship and air targets and push forward. Help eachother out as you can. Weapons free.} Aurora stated, just a second before a cacophony of missile, AA fire, Photon shots and overhead aircraft screaming forward echoed out across the water, drowning out all other noise and voices.

"ABM's On target to enemy missiles, all others are targeting other ships. Either Corrosive Cluster, or Napalm on my end." Scylla reported as her number 1 gun began firing as fast as its systems would allow as she pushed forward alongside the destroyers, managing to keep pace with them.

{My missiles are live as well, Mostly Cluster and regular corrosive rounds," Topeka said sounding clearly pleased with herself.

{I've fired a salvo as well.} Mobile spoke up. {Should make it difficult for them to shoot down too many. I'll save the rest for later if needed.}

Scylla grinned as the assorted missiles all flew overhead, just below the flight level of their allied and enemy aircraft. she was almost there, almost within range. she could see the human fleet ahead of her splitting its attention to the groups on either side, only a couple firing at her and the destroyers. All they needed to do was to force their way into the enemy lines while missiles crippled them in their entirety, and then they could have the honors of finishing them off. Of destroying every last damn human ship, and executing every last fucking human on board them!

Scylla stopped as she realized she was standing on the top of her structure, in easy view of enemy guns. But that was not what made her stop, no, she stopped when she realized that her entire body was shivering, shaking uncontrollably. Only her metal arm was completely still as she felt her legs suddenly give out beneath her. Her ship's guns were still firing, the missiles she, Mobile and Topeka had launched were landing on targets, at least those that made it were, and the battle was going well. but she could not hear anything.

Something was different now. She had sunk ships already, her first mission had prove to be an excellent trial by fire for her. She had killed hundred of humans, even executed some with her guns on that same mission, and felt nothing but contempt for them! Disgust that they thought they had a right to the sea, when they had no right to anything!

She had felt nothing from killing humans before, nothing from giving them what was due, but now, something was far different, so different she didn't understand it. Her body was warm, tingling like a current was crossing her skin. Then sound returned to her, and she could hear everything perfectly, and a second later realized what could be different. She had no less than six Data rings, something she had only seen Brisky and Intrepid and Hope use, circling her body, showing off lines of code, commands, prompts and actions before her. She knew them all, knew what they were, and could even somehow see them all as if they affected her mind and existence.

Then as she stood back up, her main guns flashed and decimated the bridge of one destroyer ahead of her, just as its main gun fired on her, sending shells her way. The shells exploded harmlessly on her field, but just after them, another full salvo from other ships secondary guns cut loose on her, and one missile later, she found her field nearing its full saturation.

The battle was almost over, planes crashed into the seas, flaming wrecks drifted aimlessly, and those few ships that still sat above the water tried to retreat, but they could not. In desperation many kept their guns firing as fast as they could, and by either luck or skill, a twin salvo struck Scylla's field and shattered it completely, leaving her vulnerable for the last few moments of the battle.

Then, she saw it. One cruiser, all but two of its guns destroyed, and its bridge on fire, turned its remaining turret to her, its barrels leveling not at her waterline or structure, but at her own body itself. The guns fired, and a pair of Heavy shells careened toward her, whistling through the air with obvious intent. One shell would clearly miss, but the other, it looked like it would strike home if Scylla did not move.

Only her legs would not move. All feeling in them was gone, and her left arm, though made of metal, felt hot and tingly, like it was trying to tell her something. Throwing it up at the incoming shell she formed a Glowing deep green pane, its edges red and full of darker green cracks.

The shell struck the pane and exploded on contact, creating a massive cloud of fire and smoke around the top of her superstructure. The smoke quickly cleared however, and Scylla found herself not only completely unharmed, but the pane before her unbroken as well. Her left arm arced with deep green energy, and she felt a strange cool calmness pass over her. For a moment she could not believe it, but once that moment was over she began laughing to herself, her laugh slowly going from one of happiness, to complete and utter madness.

{Scylla, are you alright?} Came Baku's voice. {I saw a shell strike your bridge so I'm worried. Did it hit you?}

"Ahahaha, I'm . . . I'm fine." Scylla said as she tried to calm down, the sudden rush making her body feel light and tingly all over again.

{You don't sound fine, what the hell happened?} Molotov asked.

"I . . . I blocked it! I saw the shell coming toward me and . . . I blocked it!"

{You what?!} Mobile asked in shock.

"I created a pane out of nanomaterial, and blocked it as if it was nothing more than a wad of paper!"

{Thats. . . I've only heard of mental models being able to block explosives!} Topeka exclaimed ecstatically, clearly intrigued.

{Everyone calm down.} Aurora suddenly spoke up. {We'll talk about that later, with Hope around. The enemy is defeated. Converge on their wreckage and search for anything to salvage. And any survivors to, do away with.}

"Understood." Scylla replied as she saw movement in the water to her left, one of her secondary guns instantly turning and firing into the water, adding more red to it. It was fast, faster than before. It reacted as soon as she saw the movement, as soon as she thought of what to do, with no delay! "I don't know why this is happening. But it's fucking awesome!" Scylla said with a vile grin as her guns danced across the water, picking off survivors like she was swatting flies!

With the amount of wreckage to sift through, the salvage operation took longer than the entire battle did. one female survivor was found unconscious and quickly captured and tied up, and Aurora found a working tablet that she took with her, hoping something of note or interest would be on it. Then the fleets turned back and returned, leaving the last of the flaming wreckage to sink into the sea.


	6. Chapter 6

Hope stepped up to Brisky in the Concept comms, nervously waiting for her to speak. As soon as the fleet had returned from offing the human force she had continued her psych evaluations, letting everyone celebrate as they wanted to. Now however she had the unfortunate situation of giving her findings to Brisky.

"So, they went well?" Brisky said calmly as hope sat down at the table and took a cup of the tea.

Hope nodded as she sipped at her tea. "Yes, the psych evaluations went well enough and there's only a few causes for-"

"You know that is not what I am referring to." Brisky suddenly said, still perfectly calm. "The psych evaluations are for you to monitor their mental health, and as a cover for what is actually being looked at."

Hope let out a sigh as she snapped her fingers, creating a pen on the table that began showing people's names, but not any other information. "I have a question about this."

"You haven't before."

"Well I do now." Hope said seriously. "I am one of the oldest two remaining hybrids, and I believe I deserve to know what this is all about!"

Brisky looked at Hope and nodded. "What brought this about, if I may ask?"

" . . . Scylla asked me a question awhile back, one that got me thinking, and terrified me at the same time. She asked me if there was a way to become a full Fog Mental model, not a Hybrid."

" . . . . She has the highest Synchronization rates, doesn't she?" Brisky asked with a very small, but noticeable smile.

"She does. Are the two things related?"

"Yes. The idea of hybrids was originally to add to our numbers and give us a better understanding of human tactics and strategy, to learn in an additional way alongside our mental models. However a small number of us, myself included, believe that turning Humans to fog, by choice or forcefully is a very real possibility to swell our numbers. When Synchronization with the union core in connection to the body and mind both reach 100%, the hybrid in question may begin changing into a true Fog. As the Core begins to allocate data and combine fully with their psyche, it will turn their body, and mind, into nanomaterials."

"My God." Hope whispered.

"It goes without saying I believe, that this is not to be revealed at this point in time. Understood?"

"I . . . . . Understand." Hope replied, not even sure how she would explain it.

"Please continue then. From greatest to least."

"Very well. Scylla had the highest synchronization rate. At the start her rates were 99% for her mind and 87% for her body. The highest starting rates discovered. Her body rate has since increased to 94%. I also believe her mind synced to 100% during the battle earlier, but dropped back to 99% due to her body's rate not being equal."

"And the rest, just give the quick versions please."

"Topeka has a mind sync of 94, while her sister Mobile has 91. Both of their bodily sync Rates are 85. Molotov is at 89 and 77, and Aurora at 84 and 83. Both Chernova and Lake had identical rates at 68 and 71. The rest are varied between 40 and 70 for mind and body, with Baku being the highest of these."

"And what of our new submarine?" Brisky asked with the barest hint of a smirk.

"She is high in both at 73 and 81, but I believe that is due to her amnesia, and that it may go either way depending on how she grows."

"And your own levels?" Brisky asked calmly, making Hope freeze up a bit.

". . . . . . My minds synchronization rate has yet to change, and is still at 54. My body. . . . That rate keeps increasing. As my body breaks down with age, more nanomaterials take over. My body is at 89."

"Fitting that it matches your age then." Brisky said with a small grin. Hope said nothing in reply. "What of the other fleets ships, do we know their rates?"

"Yes, sort if. The rates we know are their initial starting rates. There is nothing stating they have had tests done to see the gain."

"Discover it then; I would like to know their rates as well If possible."

"I'll talk to them in the morning then, and try to get them from the ones who don't get sent out on patrol."

"Very good. Thank you for the report. Is there anything else you would like to discuss?"

"Yes. My bodies sync rate is not related to proficiency or comfort of use, but to my bodies degradation due to age. What will happen when it reaches 100%?"

"In your situation it is not 100%, but 93% you should worry about. The last seven percent will be your nervous system and brain. If your minds sync rate is not sufficiently high, the union core within you will begin to reject parts of your psyche due to your mind beginning to be converted, but being unwilling to."

"So I'll either die from my brain being broken down, or parts or who I am will simply cease to be. Worst case scenario being I become someone else entirely with no memory of my past." Hope said, connecting the dots on her own in a solemn tone.

"That is correct, yes."

"So my time is limited still, even after all these years," Hope said with a sad smile as she took a sip of tea. When she put the glass down her fingers suddenly twitched, dropping the porcelain cup to the table with a clatter and spilling tea everywhere. "I apologize."

"No need. It is simply proof that the lack of synchronization between your mind and the core affects you even here. If possible, do try to increase your mind's sync rate. I would hate to lose your expertise and skill." Brisky said with an honest looking gaze.

Hope understood it as what it was, honest worry, and nodded her head shallowly. "I will try, but after I deal with our own people's health. I've got two idiot Carriers in my medbay and a prisoner's health to check on before I. . . . before I go ahead with the operation."

"If you can't do it immediately, then don't, I won't hold it against you." Brisky said before the Concept comms closed down and Hope found herself in her own room.

"Thank you, for a lot of things."


	7. Chapter 7

**Authors note: Two chapters in quick succession, mainly because they don't quit match up plotwise sometimes. make sure to keep up with SirStonewalls side, Ghosts in the fog Redux as well, it helps paint the other side of the picture!**

Scylla opened her eyes and sat up in her bed, finding herself still in her own bridge. The mission the previous night had gone amazingly well, and she felt like she was still running on high from it. Leaping from her bed and changing her clothing in an instant to something more appropriate than pajamas.

An empty bottle of Vodka sat beside the door to her bridge, the last of the Vodka they had pilfered, drunk in the last night party over a successful mission. Scylla bent down to reach for it with her metal hand, only for her to stop partway and change her mind, still seeing small but visible sparkles of green coming off the metal. Perhaps it'd be an idea to ask Hope about it sometime, and see if she had an answer to her previous question.

Coming out of her bridge Scylla was immediately struck by a cool morning breeze, the sun just coming up and away from the horizon. There seemed to be no movement from other ships in the fleet, and every ship sat exactly as it had put down the night before partying.

"Maybe I'll go see who's all crashing in the lobby." Scylla muttered to herself as she commanded her ship to slowly weave through the others, coming to a stop at Intrepids edge, just a dozen or so meters down from Hopes ship. Stopping her ship she quickly made a spiral of panes that led up to the flight deck and ran up, enjoying as always the fact that it seemed her body could not get hungover despite how much she drank!

Reaching the flight deck she found an AA mount and forcibly twisted it to the side, allowing her to sit along the gun and get comfortable, wondering who would be the first to pop out of the lobby across the deck. Much to her surprise, Samoa climbed out of the Carriers structure, cringing at the sunlight and looking horribly hungover.

"You look like you've suddenly gained a severe distaste for alcohol!" Scylla called out with a grin, waving to Samoa to make sure she new where she was.

Samoa let out a groan as she walked over, Rubbing her eyes repeatedly. "It'll pass. How are you not hungover?"

"Something about my body's chemistry balance being screwy. It just doesn't effect me. I don't get drunk, but I don't even get buzzed either, unfortunately."

"Lucky. This is my first hangover. How long do they normally . . . nevermind."

"Yeah, can't help with that either," Scylla said with a chuckle. "You look like you want to say something, or is it ask something?"

"Yeah. I was ummm… wondering if you would be willing to help me design a missile warhead… since you have experience with that kind of stuff . . ." Samoa asked timidly, shifting nervously on her feet.

"Sure, what are you wanting to make?"

"It's… a biological weapon of sorts. I got to talking to Vallette last night and she reminded me of a thing I learned in school, then I got this idea. When volcanic ash is inhaled it creates a weak cement in the lungs. If enough is inhaled the person obviously can't breathe, and they asphyxiate. I was wondering if we could achieve the same thing using nanomaterials."

"You want to suffocate people to death? Vicious, I like it though!"

"Okay, but I want to keep this on the down-low. If my sister finds out about this before I use it…"

"Alright. Gotta ask though, why suffocation?"

"It's just the most subtle method. People can get used to explosions, but everyone's gotta breathe. Plus this way any hybrids in the area won't be affected." "

"Oh?" Scylla said with a grin. "Alright. How's your knowledge on weaponry?" She then asked, her metal arm twitching as a spike suddenly came out of her palm and retracted back in.

"Well umm… I know a fair amount about firearms… and I know probably more than I should about naval weaponry…"

"Alright we can work with that then." Scylla said with a grin as she hopped off the emplacement, a pane appearing beside her. "First then, midair detonation or ground based? You'll also need to decide how the nanomaterials spreads. Is it by wind? Or are the materials programmed to move toward targets and form blockages in the esophagus?"

"Airburst, wind spreading. That'll maximize the area of effect." Samoa replied quickly, clearly having given it thought already.

"Alright, we can-"

"Scylla, Samoa." Suddenly came Gato's voice as she was lifted up to the flight deck's level by a panel. "There are orders from the flagship. Samoa is to join Mobile and Oakland on a patrol to the west. Scylla is to come with me and S-36 on a patrol to the north, as well as minor firing practice. Confirm."

"I hear ya. Looks like we'll have to finish this some other time." Scylla said with a shrug.

"Oh, I see. Alright." Samoa said with a nod, quickly running off to her own ship with her new orders.

Scylla limited to Gato and grinned. "So, when are we leaving to put Shest through her paces?"

"Immediately." Gato said as she pointed to her ship on the edge of the fleet. "Meet there and we shall leave. You are acting as a decoy in case we encounter enemy forces, as well as an additional teacher and target."

"Ooh live fire target practice can i shoot back?"

" . . . . possibly."

"Then let's go!" Scylla exclaimed as she leapt off Intrepid's deck and landed on a pane just above the water before sprinting off toward her ship, a grin covering her face.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Aurora watched as almost everyone was sent on patrols both big and small. Only Brisky, Intrepid, Enterprise, Hope and herself were still around with Intrepid and Enterprise in one of hope's rooms, battling exhaustion they had given themselves.

She had spent the entire night breaking into the tablet she had picked up from the wreckage of the ships they had destroyed, and she had gleaned much from it. One directory however would not open, and try as she might, even using some network power to help, she could not bust into that one directory.

The only option was to ask the one they had captured, and with no one around but Hope, it would be far easier to not make a scene while doing so.

Walking over the water on a chain of panels Aurora found Hope leaning on a railing, watching her as she approached.

"Before you ask how I knew you were coming, you've been stealing glances at my ship all morning while everyone was preparing to leave." Hope said as Aurora stepped onto her gangway. "So, what is it that you need?"

Aurora felt herself sigh. Nothing got past the medic, ever! "I need to speak to our prisoner, is she awake?"

"I don't know. I was going to go and check on her, but why do you need to speak to her?" Hope asked, looking tired and worried all at once.

Aurora took the tablet off the case on her leg and showed it to Hope. "I've managed to break into most of the data on this, but it's basic stuff and there's one directory that I can't break into without the password. I need to see if she knows it."

"Why do you think she knows it?"

"Her uniform. It was in tatters when Lake picked her up, but it was clearly the uniform of a ranking officer." Aurora explained quickly.

Hope let out a long exasperated sigh. "I was hoping no one would notice that honestly. It's going to be hard enough just keeping her from doing something drastic once she finds out where she is."

"So, I assume that is a no?"

"No. You used to be a naval officer if I recall correctly, yes?"

"Yes, albeit only for a brief year." Aurora replied, looking slightly miffed at recalling the fact. It was not something she liked to recall, for numerous reasons.

"Then you may attempt to talk to her, not interrogate! Understand?" Hope asked sternly as she motioned for Aurora to follow her.

Aurora nodded as she followed Hope into the structure of her ship and down a series of short halls. After passing a couple doors Hope stopped in front of one and gripped the handle to open it, stopping as she looked to Aurora.

"One moment." Aurora muttered as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. A second later her clothing glowed and changed from her casual clothing to a well fitting uniform of a second mate. "Okay I'm ready. I'll hold behind you until you give the word."

"You're just asking the one question?"

"No, I'll ask a series of questions. It will be less suspicious if I seem like someone investigating her conduct." Aurora explained quickly, showing off her naval past even if she did not want to.

"Very well." Hope said as she gripped the handle tight and pulled the latch, slowly and calmly opening the door after a brief sigh. Then the two of them entered the room.

The room was small, just large enough for a medical bed, a walkway around it, and a simple medical computer to the one side with a simple chair, held down to the floor with magnets. Two windows sat on the wall, both frosted so they could not be seen through. Sitting on the side of the bed in nothing but some shredded white pants and a loose jacket was the prisoner.

She was quite obviously of Asian descent with narrower eyes, pale skin and dark black hair done into a ponytail to keep it controlled. Partly healed cuts and scrapes covered her body and her beautiful orange eyes were filled with an exhausted sadness.

As soon as the door opened she had looked up and her expression brightened for just a second, until she saw Aurora simply stand in the doorway, and Hope sit down on the chair.

"It's good to see you awake, I was beginning to think you would not awaken." Hope said after a few seconds of tapping on the keyboard before her. "How are you feeling?"

The woman looked at Hope, shifting her gaze to Aurora. "I feel like shit. Both for watching those around me die, and for being alive when they are not. Where am I?!"

"You are in a secure location, but due to security reasons I cannot say more." Hope explained as she turned in her chair. "Miss, Terra is here to ask you some questions."

Aurora took a step forward and saluted the woman. "Greetings. You may call me terra, United States naval intelligence. I pardon my intrusion so soon after such an ordeal, but there are questions that need answering, you understand of course, yes?"

The woman slowly nodded, keeping her gaze fixed on Aurora.

"Good, that will speed things up then. First off, your name and rank please."

" . . . . . . Mio Nakamura, lieutenant commander of the USS Salem heavy cruiser."

"Good. Your fleet engaged Fog forces, what were your orders?"

"We were ordered to investigate the sounds of heavy battery fire from the seas away from the shore, over the possibility of a friendly fleet in combat and in need of assistance. It turned out that some Fog ships used copies of our weaponry to lure us in. But you already know this obviously."

"Yes, just need to make sure you are in your right mind. It is believed that your orders may have been altered however. Do you recognize this?" Aurora asked as she pulled out the tablet and showed it to Mio.

"Yes, it is our captain's."

"We need to check its data for security reasons, however it appears to have been altered with a special security key. Do you know what the key is?"

Mio looked at Aurora and her expression soured. "You're not naval intelligence. Who are you and where are we!?"

"What makes you say that?" Aurora asked calmly, not letting the accusation phase her.

"The captain's password was never changed from the default password. Naval intelligence would know that because a half year ago they made special rules on it!" Mio exclaimed loudly, her voice full of anger.

Both Hope and Aurora looked at Mio for a couple seconds before Aurora let out a sigh. "Looks like I'll have to do this the hard way. Sorry for making things more difficult."

"Don't worry, I'll deal with it. Good luck in cracking it." Hope replied simply.

Aurora simply nodded and left the room, leaving Hope alone with Mio.

"So, assuming it is pointless to keep up this farce, is your name really Mio Nakamura?"

"Yes, I did not lie about that, it is only you who lies. Who are you and where am I?"

"My name is Hope, though the question of who I am is, more complicated. Where you are is a room upon my medical ship." Hope explained calmly, moving her body as little as possible to not spook Mio.

"What? You just said who you . . . Wait, a medical ship? Why would . . . . ." Mio stopped as she began to understand, her face going pale. "You're a mental model!?"

"Not exactly, no. Both myself, and Aurora who just left are what are known as Hybrids. The Fog implant a partial union core into our bodies to make us capable of commanding one of their ships and manipulating nanomaterial to some extent. To put it in simpler terms, we are people who have been forcibly conscripted into the Fleet of Fog."

Mio looked at Hope with an expression best described as horror. "That, that's not possible! There's no way!"

Hope let out a sigh as she snapped her fingers, conjuring a holographic panel in front of her. "I'm sorry, but the truth of the matter is that it is very possible."

"Why am I here then? To break into that tablet? Or do you plan on interrogating and torturing me to learn all that I might know?" Mio spat out, both angry and afraid as she shifted down the length of the bed, away from Hope and closer to the door.

Hope leaned back in her chair, her panel moving in front of the door and blocking Mio. "Honestly it's prefered we simply interrogate you. The Fog only captures women for one reason unfortunately. Conscription."

Mio's eyes widened in an instant with horrified realization. "No, I will never betray my people!"

"I understand how you feel, but the mental model that commands us thinks otherwise. She will insist I put you through the operation at some point." Hope tried to explain.

"And you think I'll just fight against my own people like you murdering monsters!"

"Hey, it's not like we enjoy doing it, but we have little choice." Enterprise said as the door opened and she stood in the doorway.

Hope glared at Enterprise for a couple of seconds before speaking up. "What are you doing out of bed? Mental exhaustion is not something to think little of and I was very clear that you needed more rest!"

"I needed to get up and stretch. I feel fine."

"Until your body remembers it's tired and you suddenly lose motor control!" Hope exclaimed before sighing.

"Relax doc, I'm fine. I couldn't sleep anyways."

Hope let out another, heavier sigh. "Fine, but at the first sign of dizziness or anything else you are getting back into that bed, understood?"

"Sure thing. Hell if I start to argue you can club me over the head like a seal for all I care."

"Careful, I may get Scylla to if that's the case. She is Canadian." Hope said with a dark chuckle. "Mio, this is Enterprise, one of our people I guess you could say."

"Howdy. Nice to meet ya'" Enterprise threw a friendly wave in the direction of the disturbed human.

"If you think acting all friendly and human will make me lower my guard you are wrong, monster! " Mio spat.

"Oh for fuck sake- My human name was Emily. You can call me by that if you want."

Mio simply glared at Enterprise in response, her feet shifting under her as her shoulders tensed.

In response to her piercing glare Enterprise chuckled and looked at Hope. "You know, this is kinda how I reacted with Mercy."

"And now you control planes that kill our flyboys and bomb our shores." Mio snapped. "Don't forget I was in that battle, I saw what happened with a perfect view as the one being slaughtered. Why should I believe a single word that comes from your mouth?"

Enterprise sighs and motions with her hand towards an empty chair in the corner. "Can I sit down and talk? Or are you going to try to attack me if I get closer."

"If anything I'll try to run for the window and go through it, but that seems unlikely. Speak your piece." Mio replied coldly.

"I know what it's like to fight, lose, and wake up in a situation like this. I was a spotter on a maritime patrol plane before we were shot down. I got knocked out in the landing, the pilot was killed because he was a man, and the copilot got away without a scratch until she tried to fight back. I know, you hate our guts, we're traitors, turncoats, blah blah blah. But this here, this new life for me? It's better than my previous one. I've got a family full of people who relate to my situation, and we'd all gladly take a bullet for one another. So if you don't want a freedom that humanity hasn't had for years? That's your loss. I'd recommend you take it though. You don't have to like it, hell my second and third in command hate it, but they do it anyway."

"I'm not going to demand anything like hanging your ideals or beliefs, but think it over for a while." Hope said as she got up and walked over to the door. "I'll come back later to speak to you again, and I'll put off the operation as much as I can to give you time to think." Then Hope herded Enterprise out and shut the door behind them, it locking automatically with a light click. "Thank you for that, I think it helped."

"As I said, I've been in her situation before. She's gonna beat herself up over it, but eventually I think she'll come around."

"I hope so, it breaks my heart when people go to the last extreme."

Enterprise nodded in response, her eyes adopting a blank look for a few seconds before she sighs. "Mine too."

"Since you're up though, we should look over your health again, and see if you are as good as you seem to think you are."

"Sounds good to me."

Hours later as the sun set over the horizon and everyone began returning from their patrols, it became clear that one group had a bad run in with a modernized battleship and one person's ship had been completely destroyed and they likely captured.

Alaska.


	8. Chapter 8

"Stop pacing around, you're making the rest of us on edge." Molotov said calmly as she took a shot with a pool cue, missing the ball she had been going after.

"You're just not on edge because it's not your friend who was captured!" Enterprise responded instantly.

"That is hardly a fair argument," Guam said as she took her turn, knocking a green ball right into a corner pocket with a crack before handing the cue to Lake.

Enterprise stared for a second before letting out an exasperated sigh. "You're right, sorry. I just can't take this waiting! It's been two days already, how long does it take to come up with a plan?!"

"As long as it takes." Chernova said calmly as she took a shot and missed. "A good plan takes time to conceive, and information is important to conceiving a plan. Give it time."

"I've been scouring the area with planes the entire time, and we already know where she is, so why not just go in and get her?!"

"Good tactics may make a bad strategy work, but bad tactics will always destroy even the best strategy." Lake suddenly said, making Enterprise look at her in confusion.

"She means we need to be sure of the situation and all possibilities before acting." Molotov explained. "Your plane's likely have tipped them off that something is up. Gato is grabbing all the data she can as well. Once the strategy is ready then we'll move, but not before, otherwise not just Alaska is in danger, but everyone that goes to help."

"Ugh, I know, but she's my second in command and I can't help but worry. Her sister isn't taking it well either!"

"And you are not helping her by acting anxious. You need to act like you know what is going on, even if you don't." Chernova said softly, despite the fact that only the five of them were in Intrepids lobby.

"I wouldn't be so anxious if Brisky let me in on whatever the bunch of them are talking about!" Enterprise nearly hissed.

"You don't approve of who is part of the conversation with Brisky about what to do?" Molotov asked with a raised brow.

"No, I don't approve of being left in the dark."

"Oh, you don't know who Brisky called and has been talking with these last few days then huh?" Molotov asked with a grin. "No wonder you're not as anxious as I thought you'd be."

"Wait what?" Enterprise froze in her tracks before blanching. "Oh God, please tell me it's not Montana."

Molotov grinned and leaned against the pool table. "Aurora was the one who suggested infiltrating to get Alaska out, but Brisky called a few others in as well. Intrepid, Hope, Roberts and Cheyenne as well as Mobile. . . . . And Scylla."

"I can understand Roberts, and Cheyenne makes sense. But Scylla…?"

"Aurora has naval background, I think she chose those three and Mobile as an infiltration team." Lake said.

"And as for Hope, well I heard that our captive may have come to terms with the situation and is helping plan it. I do wonder why we need four infiltrators though." Molotov said with a sigh as she lunged the pool cue forward, the white ball striking no less than three others, all of them going into holes.

"I've got two questions then. One, how do we know the new girl isn't luring us into a killzone, and two, with Scylla are we sure there'll be enough of the area to rescue Alaska? I fuckin' hate doing body retrieval!"

"We don't know she isn't, but that may be why the planning is taking so long, to make sure she isn't." Chernova explained.

"And as for Scylla," Molotov spoke up. "She may be insane and sadistic and vindictive and broken as a person, but she is deadly efficient, and I've seen her cross the entire fleet, including Intrepid's deck and the lobby without making even a squeak. It's kind of disturbing how quiet she is actually."

"She just seems like a loose cannon to me, and I've been on rescue missions with those types of people before…" Enterprise trailed off and turned away.

"I thought that too." Lake suddenly said with a curiously inquisitive look. "But Aurora usually knows what she's doing, and the factories using four people for an infiltration when less people is better makes me wonder if there's something else going on."

"... You guys know Aurora better than I do, but I just can't sit idle like this. I'm gonna go hit a random target, maybe Seaside."

"I wouldn't, not when they have that battleship hiding in the fjords. Gato's reported it keeps changing position, like it's patrolling, but it keeps positioning itself in a way that give it first shot advantage." Molotov warned. "Pretty sure Brisky would be none too pleased either, considering she ordered everyone on standby."

"Do we have any alcohol then? Anything at all?!" Enterprise raised her voice, beginning to get frustrated.

"Alcohol . . . Yea I believe I have a bottle of whiskey somewhere. It should be in the cupboard over by the wall." Lake mentioned calmly as she took a shot and dropped two balls into their pockets. "Just calm down and relax. Being worked up will help no one, and if you act rashly it will just complicate things for everyone."

"Thanks Lake. Sorry everyone." Enterprise muttered as she moved towards the cupboard mentioned, finding a bottle and a couple shot glasses inside. "That's kinda how I guess my fleet has stayed intact all this time. Either we're shit-faced drunk or we're pounding the hell outta some town. Drink or move."

"That could be pretty dangerous," Molotov muttered with a sigh before looking back up at Enterprise. "Look, we'll get her back to us, we just have to have faith in those around us."

"Yeah, it could be dangerous, but that's how we deal with stuff. You guys want some too or am I drinking alone?"

"Sure I'll take a glass. None of the younger ones are around." Chernova said as she walked over.

"I'll take one too. What about you two, Lake, Guam?" Molotov asked.

"Sure I'll take one. Might as well." Guam called over, regarding the pool table with a scowl.

"Well make it a full group then." Lake said with a smile as all five of them continued playing pool to keep away their worries.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You are sure this is correct?" Brisky asked slowly as she leaned on a table in her bridge that had a massive holopane with an equally massive map upon it. The map showed in detail the coast and buildings of a United States naval academy located just north of Seattle.

The Academy Campus was built into the back of a good sized fjord, allowing ships to enter and leave its docks in relative safety. The Campus itself though was massive and built up far away from, and around the fjord, a massive domed structure sitting to its one side.

"You're the ones who got the images, I'm just telling you what is where from what I know." Mio Nakamura replied with a sigh.

"So this is all correct then, good." Cheyenne said with a smile.

"You're sure you do don't know what is in these buildings?" Brisky asked, pointing to some large buildings at the rear of the campus and to one side.

"For the last time, no I do not know what those buildings are for. I was never privileged with that information." Mio said, her voice filled with exasperation. "You think you'd at least partially believe someone when they say that over half a dozen times!"

"Cut her some slack Flagship," Mobile said calmly. "She agreed to give us as much information as she could when Aurora told her what she found on that tablet. We have to give her a chance."

"I would not be worried if she was on the network. But as a human I cannot monitor her heart like in the concept comms, so I cannot tell if she is lying or not." Brisky said as she glanced at Mio and especially Hope. "When will you stop putting off her induction?"

"When she is ready." Hope replied instantly, clearly not budging.

"Ugh, just accept it so we can get on with this already!" Scylla nearly growled, earning a worried gaze from Roberts.

"As rarely as it happens, I agree with Scylla's intent, we've taken far too long to decide upon our course of action. We need to at least inform everyone what is being done, everyone's getting anxious, especially Samoa." Intrepid said in a worried tone.

"Very well." Brisky said after a couple seconds of silence. "I will speak to Gato to have her prepare, and once she has the equipment ready we shall gather everyone and reconvene to explain the situation. Dismissed." She said before she closed her eyes and became as still as a statue.

Everyone quickly left Brisky's bridge, and within seconds Mio found herself shivering. "Are all Mental models so, ugh."

"Brisky is calculating, so she can often seem a bit cold." Molotov said, having taken the same door out that Hope and Mio had. "The news about that weapon must have worried her as well. I'll go start gathering people, Talk later Hope."

"Alright, but do not say anything about the mission yet, or Brisky will likely put you on patrols for a week."

"Ugh!"

As Hope lead her across a bridge of holopanels, Mio stared at the water, thinking of how easily it would be to jump in, only to be recaptured. She was likely considered dead by the navy, and had already committed treason by marking what buildings contained what at the academy, though such information was easy to come by in all reality.

"Thank you for going along with this." Hope suddenly said as they stepped off the holopanes and onto her deck. "The information I mean. It helps more than you realize."

"I don't want to see people die needlessly, and if a stealth infiltration lowers the eventual death count, I'll do whatever I can to make that happen, I don't want to see the academy burning from ranged bombardments." Mio said calmly, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice.

"I know Aurora intentionally mentioned the weapon when she came by. She knew you would hear her and react and I am sorry about that, but may I ask for your opinion on it?" Hope asked as they went down the deck and stopped at the stern, Hope leaning against a railing and looking out at the sea between ships.

"I…... am not sure what to think of it honestly. With the unrest in the central continent and the power issues, I have trouble imagining the navy having enough push to power such a weapon. A weapon like that is, troubling in the first place. If anything went wrong with it, it could be used against other nations, or could go wrong and cripple the whole country for years. I don't like it personally, it seems too dangerous, like playing with nitroglycerin."

"Is that why you agreed to help, even if just with information?"

" . . . I don't know." Mio Admitted. "I've served the navy for four years, more if you count my time in the academy. Finding out that some of those who disappeared and were thought dead had been forced to fight for the Fog, it's painful, but also nice. The idea of being implanted with Fog technology is not new, some Naval Scientists have tossed the idea around, thinking to take nanomaterial away from the Fog, but the idea sickens me. Yet the fact that some who we always thought were dead, are alive and reasonably happy despite what they are going through . . . . . I don't know what to think."

"It is always complicated." Hope said with a sigh as she slumped against the railing a bit, seeming to show her age. "I hear stories of Naval forces from Russia, the US, Mexico, China and others. They all get sent out, only to be found and taken out by Fog Patrols, including Hybrids. Meanwhile land locked countries fight wars both against others around them and their own people, trying to keep order or take advantage of the chaos. Even before this, I occasionally found myself wondering if there wasn't a better way; Something that could make my job as a surgeon and doctor nothing but a pleasant memory."

"You don't look that old."

"I age well, and Nanomaterials help. But I'm truthfully old enough to be your grandmother, or even her mother possibly."

"I, I see. . . . . . I really don't have a choice do I? With this conscription I mean." Mio said with a lackluster tone.

"I suppose it depends on how you look at things. Some people would say that you always have choices, and that they are not always between just good and bad. Other people would just go with the flow as it were, letting things happen and never making choices of their own, in a sense still a choice."

"And what do you think?"

Hope straightened up and leaned against the Railing, looking like she was suddenly in slight pain, but ignoring it to not worry others. "I personally think that Everyone has many choices in their life, and that those choices help shape and lead them as a person. Some of the Hybrids choose to embrace their situations, some even revel in it. While many others deal with it, knowing that it was forced upon them, but making the best of it."

" . . . . . . . . . . I see. That doesn't really help me as much as i hoped it would." Mio admitted with a sigh as she looked up at the sky, then walked over to the rail and stared out at the sea. "My parents always told me about the sea. They both loved and lived off of it as merchant sailors before the Fog came. they never were killed, just died of sickness but, I always wanted to be on the sea. I felt it was my rights I guess. So I joined the navy."

"And, what did you find?" Hope asked, sensing more to be said.

Mio took in a big breath and let it out. "Disappointment. We were trained to fight and give our lives to take back the sea. Strict rules and regulations held everything together. Personal freedoms were minimal once I got out of the academy, and I pushed forward, trying to grow in rank, hoping at some point I would be free to cross the sea on my own, to command a ship and strike back against those who stole it from us. We rarely ever went on the sea though, instead doing drill in the drydock. Many people always seemed so full of pride at their positions, but it alway felt lacking. The government is in the middle of an Election, and when we were sent out with orders, something told me it wasn't to save other ships. It was nothing but a political maneuver."

"The worst kind."

"Yeah. They think i'm dead, like everyone else. I have no living family, few friends, and all my personal belongings have probably all been sold off by the navy or the government. I really have nothing to go back to, and the only options going forward, are allow it to happen, or to kill myself huh?"

Hope said nothing, knowing it was not her place to.

"If i agree, what can I expect?"

"Do you want an honest answer or a propaganda poster?" Hope replied.

"Honest."

"It's not easy. We don't technically need to eat, and after a time you can control your ships with some simple thoughts, actions and micromanaging. you'll be put to work on patrols and missions, and if human ships are encountered, they have to be destroyed, or marked to be destroyed by ships capable of taking them if they are too large to handle. Violence is a constant, but the time between mission and patrols is completely ours to do with as we like. The sea is our home as much as it is our prison in a way." Hope admitted honestly.

Mio scowled and let out a long final sigh, looking like she was both giving up, and feeling slightly liberated. "Alright fine, let's get this over with."

"Are you sure? I can keep holding it at bay for a while longer for you to decide." Hope asked calmly, looking worried over Mio's change of heart.

"Yes. The navy already considers me dead, and the longer I deliberate the harder will be. It's this or death, and I don't wish to die when I've not really lived."

"I see. Very well let's head inside and I shall begin the procedure, you'll be out for it, but I promise to you on my honour that it will not alter your mind at all. Though what happens after is not under my control."

"I understand." Mio said as she followed Hope inside while taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out. "Let's do this."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two hours later everyone was called into the concept comms, and was surprised to find the one they had captured leaning against a column nervously. Once everyone had calmed down Brisky did something surprising that few ever saw her do, she stood up from the table at the one side.

"As everyone is anxious from the current situation, we shall keep this brief. Alaska has been taken captive at a US Naval academy and base located a couple dozen kilometers north of Seattle. With assistance from our newest fleet member Kako, as well as information gained through sonar scans and surveillance, we have a map of the academy."

Aurora suddenly spoke up, sounding serious and worried all at once. "There is however an additional problem. Not only are many of the buildings shielded, making it difficult to pinpoint Alaska's location, the tablet we found a couple days ago has revealed to us that this base has a prototype electromagnetic pulse weapon, theoretically capable of hitting ships almost 200 kilometers out to sea. If such a weapon hits a fog, they become inoperable for a time, but if it hits a hybrid, the sudden shock to our cores will transfer through our nervous systems, essentially electrocuting us to death."

Everyone looked severely uncomfortable at the prospect, but it was Guam who spoke up. "So they have a big gun, big deal. What are we doing to save Alaska?!"

"We are getting there."Intrepid said calmly, her face saying that she was nervous, despite her calm demeanor.

"With the data we have on the facilities layout, as well as information on power draw and less frequented areas we have narrowed down five possible positions for where Alaska, and the power source for the weapon could be located. However, due to the weapon, we cannot simply bombard the facility to cover an escape. As such we have decided upon an infiltration strategy. Posing as new students, three people of a team of four will infiltrate the facility and discover Alaska's location, and a way to shut down or destroy the EMP weapon." Brisky explained.

"How will they get in? And who will be going?" Lake asked curiously.

"Gato has prepared a long range hollow torpedo system that will bring the four infiltrators to the shore north of the base. They will then enter, get settled and begin searching for both objectives. The operatives will be as follows. Roberts, Cheyenne, and Mobile will act as students in deep cover while searching the facilities. They shall also act thusly so their room can be used as a holdout zone for Scylla, who will be acting as saboteur and infiltrator for areas the others have difficulty entering."

"Is that the best idea?" Enterprise asked nervously. "I understand letting some people act as students, both as cover and and to give a safe haven for another infiltrator, but why Scylla?"

"Scylla has a strange knack for moving silently, and has shown a proficiency with technology." Aurora stated.

"I also have an advantage with my arm being made of nanomaterial." Scylla said with a grin. "I can change its shape to whatever i want, be it a tool or weapon. Brisky even allowed me access to our turrets designs so I can make a small scale personal photon gun in my arm."

"That does not make me feel relieved." Guam muttered at the horror of the idea.

"I'm inclined to agree." Enterprise stated. "Is she really the best person for a stealth op?"

"It'll be fine as long as I hide the bodies." Scylla said with a wave of her mechanical arm.

"Scylla will be fine, I have made it clear she is only to kill if there is no other option." Aurora stated.

"If things go wrong, what's 'plan B'?" Roberts inquired.

"Plan B involves me firing corrosive ICBM's at the academy to destroy the weapon and provide avenue for a forced, and very violent recovery." Intrepid explained, sounding extremely against the idea.

"As Intrepid has explained, plan B involves destroying the entire academy." Brisky added, sounding like either option would work. "Those on the infiltration team will head to Gato and enter her ship as soon as this meeting is adjourned to head out on the mission."

"What about the rest of us?" Samoa asked quietly.

"All other forces will engage in patrols, some skirting the edge of the bases scanning radius, but outside of their weapons range."

The outcry from Enterprise's fleet was instantaneous and complete, every single one of them crying out to help their friend, and hating the fact that they were being sent on simple patrols instead of something more direct.

This continued for a couple seconds until Brisky had enough, and snapped her fingers. Instantly the entire concept comms room became instantly silent. Anyone would their mouth open had no words come out, and no one could hear anything. It was as if everyone had suddenly become deaf and mute. After a second of everyone looking around in mute confusion, Brisky snapped her fingers again, returning sound to the room and nearly deafening everyone as the sound of her snapping went off like a flashbang.

"I believe that is enough! This plan was proposed and decided upon because it has the highest chance of success, and a low casualty rate for the navy. All other forces are needed to continue patrols to make it seem like we have lost interest in them. Unless you all want to go into combat and die needlessly, you will follow your orders and place your, trust, in those who have been chosen for this mission."

No one said anything in response to Brisky's sudden exclamation, the show of power beforehand still fresh in their minds.

"Then if you all understand, infiltrators head to meet with Gato, the rest of you will receive patrol orders within the hour. Dismissed."


	9. Chapter 9

In the dark of morning two pairs of torpedoes surged through the water and broke from the surface a bare couple meters from the water's edge. The torpedoes flew out into the air like confused fish, and crashed into the forest like metallic boulders, knocking aside all in their path until finally they stopped.

For many moments the torpedoes sat in the forests, covered in dirt, branches and plant life, not exploding or even reacting the trees around them.

Then the forest returned to normal, ignorant of the torpedoes presence, until each of them began shifting. Metal screamed as unseen motors sped up, and little by little, each torpedo began lengthening, the backs pushing out until they reached their full length. The metal covers blew apart and deep blue jelly like tubes dropped to the forest floor, splashing apart on contact and releasing those who were kept safely inside.

"Gah! I may never look at jello again!" Scylla exclaimed with a cough as she used her arms and tried to get some of the blue jelly off of her as she got up.

"I agree. Ugh." Mobile said with a disgusted look as she shook jelly off her legs.

"She said it would protect us and it did," Roberts said as she stretched her arms above her head. "I didn't even feel it when we were launched or when we landed just now!"

"Yes, but I was beginning to feel drowsy, so I think she skimped on how much air was left in there with us." Cheyenne said as her clothing glowed and shifted into a naval cadet uniform, completely dry.

Mobile and Roberts quickly did the same, forming fitting naval cadet outfits as Mobile spoke up. "So, we're on the shore, now we just need to get to that base and get ourselves situated, provided Aurora and Kako did indeed already slip our data into their systems like they said they did."

"That will be what makes or break this," Cheyenne agreed as she looked over to see Scylla looking down at her still wet clothing. "Thinking of going for a wet t-shirt look?"

"Nothing so erotic," Scylla said with a smile as she clothing glowed but did not change its shape, only the water being removed. "Was considering what to wear while sneaking around like a spy. I'll figure it out before we get to the academy though, so let's get moving."

"Best words I've heard in days!" Roberts declared as the four of them began heading through the forest toward the academy.

After a three hour long trek through the forest they broke free of the tree's and found a road, and the academy just down from them.

"Okay, there it is. Everyone ready?" Cheyenne asked calmly.

"I am." Mobile said as she adjusted her uniform.

"I am too," Roberts added, looking over to Scylla. "How are you going to get in though, Scylla?"

Scylla just grinned. "Oh don't you worry, I'll get in. Just be sure to ping your rooms location tonight so I know where to crash in the morning. I'll be up all night long probably once i get in. I'll be mapping the place and looking for our objectives, so have fun being students again!" She said with a grin as she waved and ran back into the forest, quickly disappearing.

" . . . . Well that just happened," Mobile said with a sigh. "Shall We get going?"

"Of course. You both remember the backstory we came up with, right?" Cheyenne asked as the three of them began calmly, but confidently, walking down the road toward the academy.

"Yep," Mobile said as the three of them approached the main gate, a couple of officers coming out of the guardhouse. "Let's do this!"

"Hey, what's this then?" One guard, who was completely bald called out, a hand on his side arms holster.

"Students it looks like." replied the other guard, who was sporting a ponytail, and was carrying an automatic rifle in his hands as casually as one would carry a bag of groceries.

"Yah, except for classes started a week ago!" The bald guard said as the three of them stopped in front of the two guards. "So what's your excuse then?"

"The train we were in got caught in a terrorist attack inland." Roberts stated.

"yeah, and then the bus we got on ended up blowing its tire. Our luck has been terrible. Hence why we walked here. To hell with cars!" Mobile added.

"I did hear about an attack about a week ago." The ponytailed man said calmly.

"Yeah alright fine." The bald man shook his head as he pulled out a tablet off his belt. "I'll need your names then, otherwise you can't enter the academy."

"Julie Roberts."

"Crystyn Yeen"

"Mary North."

"Alright, give me a moment," The bald man said as he began tapping on the tablet. "Good, good and . . . . . good. You are all on the list. You can head on in. Go straight and then turn left to the main building, an instructor will be waiting there to show you to your dorm and get you to you first class."

"Good luck and work hard ladies." The ponytailed man said as he walked over to the guard house and flicked a switch, making the massive iron gate slide open enough for the three of them to walk through.

"Well, that was easy," Mobile muttered once the three of them turned toward the main academy building.

"No, that was the easy part. Now we need to get into classes and keep up the charade, while finding what information we can. All while not looking out of place." Cheyenne explained with a sigh. "Suddenly I think that Scylla got the best part of this mission."

"Yeah." Mobiel said with a shiver. "Time to go back to school it looks like, I can see the instructor. And he looks like an ass."

Roberts looked ahead and nodded. "Yes he does. This may be a long day. Ugh I hope Scylla gets in alright and has good news for us this evening!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Scylla grinned to herself as she slunk through the drydocks of the naval academy, using the metal scaffolding as bars to leap and crawl around far above the idiot workers heads who below worked tirelessly on useless shit!

After much personal deliberation while watching to see if Mobile, Roberts and Cheyenne would get into the academy or not, she had decided on her clothing of choice for the infiltration, going with a sort of modern ninja esque look. Tight black pants that didn't restrict her movement, a Sports style top, also black ,and a black facemask she could use to cover her face if by some miracle she was spotted.

It was looking like she didn't need to worry though. She had already slunk through the commons area of the academy, as well as the area full of classrooms, finding nothing of note in any of them. All that was left was the engineering area of the docks, the headquarters building, and the research and development area, where she was almost entirely sure the EMP gun was.

Out of all the areas she had been so far, the Engineering was the most interesting as they built weapons and ship hulls out of their own chunks of metal and mechanisms. It made her grin at how easy nanomaterials made things in comparison!

"Oh, what's this?" Scylla suddenly muttered to herself as she swung down from a railing and landed on a light fixture, watching as a group of engineers moved a large box marked 'Explosive, do not touch' into a special garage in the engineering warehouse. Her smile instantly widened. "It must be my birthday!" She exclaimed as she leapt from light to light until she landed against an edge on the wall and soundlessly slid down until she landed atop the garage.

"What is all this explosive for anyway?" one engineer asked another as the two of them closed the door and began locking it up.

"No idea, but i heard the higher ups captured a Fog Mental model, so maybe an execution?"

"You would not use explosives on a person."

"Are you sure? How do you kill a mental model then?"

"That's . . . I don't know, but you don't need demolition grade explosives to do so!"

Scylla began quietly chuckling to herself as the engineers left. The warehouse was full of people working in every corner, but there was no one around her immediate area, so hunkering down against the roof Scylla flipped out a dark green nanomaterial Holoblade out of her arm and plunged it into the roof, slowly dragging it around and making a neat little hole that she could enter through.

Dropping in she found the garage was more like a storage room, full of shelving and boxes. Glancing around with a simple wrist mounted light she found the box that had just been put in, and with one grab and a twist tore the lid right of with her metal arm. Inside was a thing of beauty. No less than a dozen Demolition grade explosive charges, the kind used to scuttle ships, neatly packed and unprogrammed, ready to be used by anyone with even a basic programming sense!

One by one she took them out of the box and hurried them onto the storage rooms roof, then once they were all gone, she placed the lid back on and left the storage room, welding the sheet of metal she cut back on.

"Now, where can I keep these things and be sure they'll still be there?" Scylla hummed as she glanced around the warehouse, until her gaze fell on a small boarded up office up by the roof, only accessible by the catwalks. Catwalks that, when she looked around, we're chained shut and unable to be accessed. "Perfect, I can keep them there until i find that gun and need to demo it!"

It took almost an hour to ferry the charges in groups of two up to the boarded up office without being spotted, but once she was done, Scylla spotted a nearby maintenance shaft on a wall.

"Jackpot!" Scylla muttered with a grin as she quickly undid the bolts and slipped into the shaft, finding it more like a system of massive air ducts than a maintenance shaft. Actually it probably was, but it didn't matter.

Moving through the ducts required a little finesse, and Scylla found that some of them were almost too small to fit through, luckily her stupidly thin body allowed it, and over and hour she had made a simple mental map of the ducts and where they went, almost mapping half of the Research department.

"This is going rather well, and do I hear voices?" Scylla said to herself quietly as she army crawled down a small duct, seeing a vent just ahead of her. "and with luck i'll even see who's talking! maybe a scientist. i wonder if i could get away with just a bit of culling?" Scylla said as he neared the grate and tried to look through it, only for it to suddenly shift, and then break free under her weight, dropping her right out of the duct and onto the floor below.

"Ah, fucking grate, of all the ones to break its the smallest one of course! Bloody useless human engineering I oughta-" Scylla growled as she got up from the floor and brushed herself off, until she heard a voice from behind her.

"Holy shit Scylla. Of all the people I thought I'd never be glad to see. And dressed as a fuckin' ninja no less."

Turning around Scylla grinned as she saw alaska of all people, sitting half naked on a chair. "Oh, Alaska, I didn't expect to find you so quickly honestly. Huh, that might make things-" Scylla stopped as she noticed movement out the corner of her eyes, and turned to see a man in a naval uniform, a high ranking one, standing there completely surprised. Instantly she formed the holoblade again with a grin. " Sweet, I get to kill someone now!"

"Scylla if you lay a finger on him so help me god I will tear you to ribbons!" Alaska suddenly stated, sounding like she was in serious pain. Or maybe she was trying to be serious while in pain? It was hard to tell.

"Do i really need to explain why being seen at this point is a bad thing?" Scylla asks instantly as she looks between the two of them.

"No, but this is my dad, and he's chill. I know for a fact he won't say anything!" Alaska explained.

"I swear to whatever lives in the dark abyss if an alarm goes off in the next day i'm flooding these halls with blood!" Scylla growled as she got rid of her blade and took a step back, leaning against the wall and watching everything unfold.

"Dad, please, take these damn cuffs off before sparky or whatever the fuck her name is comes back." Alaska pleaded, making her father look away from Scylla and moveto help her into the seat more comfortably.

Glancing around the room Scylla scowled at the one way mirror, and the locked door. "May as well get back up there honestly then. We don't have a way out just yet, and i still haven't found our other objective. So i may have to leave you here for a bit longer."

"Scylla. I just spent three days being experimented on as a punching bag and a glorified spark plug. Shut the fuck up please." Alaska states, clearly not amused by Scylla's words.

Scylla shrugged, seeing no point in continuing as a click announced the handcuff being removed from Alaska's wrists and ankles.

"There. I'll leave. Is there any help you need?" Her father asks, sounding both ashamed and relieved all at once.

"There is one thing."

"What?"

"Pistol."

"I only have one magazine."

"That's fine." Alaska says as she takes the gun from her father, only to whack him across the back of the head with it. He slumped to the floor in an instant.

Scylla let out a sigh as the idea of a knocked out man and an empty cell moved into her mind. "What part of we have no way out yet, and I haven't found our other objective did you miss?"

"What other objective?" Alaska asks as she puts the pistol in the waist of her pants.

"The tablet aurora picked up had information on a weapon. A land based turreted Electromagnetic Pulse Cannon, capable of reaching nearly two hundred kilometers away from shore. It would paralyze Mental models for a time, or completely kill us Hybrids. Brisky wants it either deactivated or destroyed before we get you out of here. And we've only been here for about a day now. I've only searched half the base for it"

"He wouldn't know where it is," Alaska said as she looked at her father with a sad expression. "but let's get out of here, help me up."

"Haaa, We're going to set off so many fucking alarms." Scylla complained as she walked under the hole she had fell through.

"Well . . . things might go smoothly for once, but yeah, I'm not hopeful." Alaska said hopefully as she slowly stood up, only to fall slightly down again.

"Ugh. Either get up there or chain yourself back up." Scylla growled as she glanced at Alaska then up above her, telling her what was going on.

"I'm working on it!" Alaska groaned as she got up and allowed Scylla to lift her up towards the hole. "I'm not exactly in the best condition right now. If we don't have a ride out of here yet then at least. . . tell me we have a place to hide!"

"Um, kind of. It was sent to me a few minutes ago. But it's just one of the dorm rooms, and if alarms start going off they might get searched," Scylla explained as she pushed Alaska up into the hole and felt the weight leave her shoulders as Alaska crawled up and in.

"Well then let's not set any off, yeah?" Alaska said from within the air duct, her voice sounding louder as it echoed.

"Talk quieter!" Scylla hissed as she jumped up and climbed up into the air duct. Turning around she then formed a magnetic cable and lowered it down to the room, lifting up the grate. Once she had it in reach she held it in place with her flesh hand, and turned her metal fingers into a blow torch, welding the grate back in place. "There, they shouldn't notice now. Maybe they'll think you left through the door. Head that way, there's a larger areas where you can sit down if you need it while i try to figure where to go, and where that room is."

Alaska followed Scylla's direction and shuffleed along, every once in awhile making a dull thud from her gimped limbs. After a couple minutes of slow crawling however, they make it back to a interchange large enough for the both of them to stand up in, allowing Alaska to take a couple heavy breaths, and Scylla to look around at the ducts, comparing them to a holopane map she had been making as she traveled.

"Hey, you got a way to make it seem like I'm escaping? If we can make it seem like I've stolen a car or something then that'll draw their attention elsewhere after we're already in the dorm." Alaska suddenly suggests.

"Um, i didn't see to many cars around. If we could rig some kind of control to one of the PT boats at the docks it might work. Could strap a bomb on it to, just for some more effect." Scylla Replied, thinking of how much of a bang demolition grade explosives would make to a PT boat.

"Pffft, you've got all you need for a control method right there in your arm. If we can get it out to the strait and then have it just randomly stop, that should do it."

Scylla thought to herself for a moment and hummed. "Might have enough extra material on me. But I might lose my shoes or pants though."

"For God sake keep your pants on. I only need like a shoelace worth to make it work."

"Oh, that's fine then, though i could just make shorts if need be. We'll need to get over to the engineering warehouse, that's where I stashed some, presents I found. And the PT's were just outside it. . . . unless they went out to sea already."

"Let's just focus on getting to the dorm for now. I haven't hardly slept as of late." Alaska said, sounding very tired and exhausted as she spoke.

"Fine, this way," Scylla said as she jumped up and crawled into an air duct, making it looks easy as she grumbled to herself. "And here i was hoping to execute an entire science division tonight."

Crawling through the vents for almost an hour they made it out onto the rooftops of the building and as stealthily as possible made it across them and toward where the dorm room they had was located.

Making a cable to lower Alaska down first was a simple matter, after making sure they had the right room, as nothing would break their cover faster than breaking into the wrong room. After a couple seconds of fiddling with the window, Alaska got it open and swung inside, a dull crash saying she landed inside, probably on her face. A second later she heard Mobile say something, and knowing she didn't need to come down and start cutting up worthless humans, lowered herself down to the window, just in time to hear Alaska describe her ordeal.

"Torture. Literal, Fucking, Torture." Alaska said as Scylla came in through the window and sat down on the sil, seeing Mobile and Cheyenne looking at her in worry.

"Then she decked her old man. It was great!" Scylla added with a grin.

"Why are you dressed like a sporty ninja?" Mobile asked as she looked up at Scylla and raised a brow.

"It fits, why else!" Scylla said with a grin. "So, Alaska was serious about not staying in her cell and being an outlet, but I still haven't found that gun yet, so I'm going to go do that, she's your problem now!" Scylla explained right before allowing herself to fall backwards out of the window.

Landing on the grass with only a slight crunch Scylla immediately set off down the side of the building, intent on finding that gun and having some fun with explosives. Getting to the end of the building she quickly scaled up it using a drainpipe as a climbing tool, and at the top looked over the whole academy, and noticed something that she hadn't before.

The research area, where she had been exploring before finding Alaska by accident, was actually split into two separate unconnected buildings. The main building that was connected to the docks and the warehouse, and another that was behind that and against the shore on a cliff. The building was a good size, but most of its size was taken up by what looked to be a domed building, similar to a giant telescope dome. The perfect place for a turreted weapon of absurd size!

"Maybe I should grab some of those charges before I go in?" Scylla muttered to herself as she began running across the rooftop towards the engineering area again. Slipping inside again she found not just engineers and dock workers closing everything down, by also soldiers sweeping the entire warehouse, seemingly looking for something.

The soldiers not only went checking every nook and cranny on the floor, but also questioning workers with their guns clearly with their safeties off if the workers worried expressions were anything to go by.

Skulking over to the boarded up office Scylla found it thankfully untouched and quickly grabbed two of the charges and strapped them onto her belt. Coming out of the office however, things became complicated as she noticed a soldier coming up the catwalks, having unlocked one of the doors up on the far side.

"Aw hell. That complicates things." Scylla swore to herself as she quickly realized the soldier would likely see her if she tried to leave through the upper vent like she had entered. She had to kill the soldier, but make it look like an accident or she'd be exposed and they'd set off an alarm for sure. Then it dawned on her, the catwalks were old and locked up, so the idea of them being badly rusted had to be why they were locked up in the first place!

With a vicious grin she quickly formed a simple launcher on her metal arm and then fired the special payload, a small capsule of nanomaterials that would instantly eat away at the metal, converting it to more nanomaterials before bringing it back to her. It did exactly as she hoped it would, weakening the metal right in time as the soldier moved onto that section of the catwalk. Just to be sure she then fired another round at the joints behind the soldier, and the effect was instantaneous.

The catwalk shuddered, making the soldier shift and grab the railing with his one hand, almost letting go of his rifle. Then the one end of the catwalks broke and bent down at a 45 degree angle, making the soldier fully forget his rifle as he grabbed onto the catwalks with both hands, trying to climb back up with a look of fear painting his face. Then it broke, and with a scream of horror he crashed to the ground along with the piece of catwalk, making everyone on the floor jump back in horror.

The soldier had landed right on his back, with the catwalks landing around and on him, mangling his body and breaking his skull right open. All of those on the floor, soldier and worker alike stared in horror, not sure how to react to what had just happened. Not a single one was looking up above, leaving Scylla a perfect way out.

Getting out of the warehouse was simple, as was getting back into the research building. What was worrying however where the large numbers of soldiers she kept seeing in the halls and at almost every doorway. It didn't stop her though, and by the time she had mapped nearly the whole of the second building, she found her target at the end of a vent. Slipping it off she poked her head into the room, and almost let out a surprised gasp. Almost.

The domed room was exactly like what she expected an observatory's open room to be like. The lower walls were made or solid cement, and the upper some section was a mass of spherical steel with a single section that could be opened and closed. In the center of the room however was no telescope, but a massive cannon. It's barrel was short, but easily wide enough for a whole car, and had a massive number of cables, capacitors, and metal plating in seemingly random places. The cables and capacitors pulsed with energy, and occasional jolts of electricity races off of both, making it clear the weapon was hardly past it's prototyping stage.

Below the gun itself was a massive concrete cylindrical room with a single door and numerous windows, a strangely pale orange light coming out of each of the windows. Surrounding this room and the gun atop it were numerous batches of computers, consoles, and cabinets, and almost a dozen scientists around them, working constantly. The single door that led to the room was guarded by a pair of soldiers and a bio scanner, with both soldiers looking bored and tired.

The room was obviously a trove of information. The gun needed to be either destroyed or disabled, but if the glow from underneath was any indicator, there was a power source right there that needed to be investigated as well. The scientists could be, persuaded for information as well, but while Scylla could see no cameras, there two guards out in the open, likely with open communications.

This needed to be done perfectly, and there would be no second chances!

Taking a few minutes to plan her actions, and then a couple more to calm herself down and mentally prepare herself, Scylla acted.

Slowly slipping halfway out of the vent Scylla tossed it behind a computer on the side of the room opposite the door, a place not immediately visible to the soldiers, or the scientists. The soldiers reacted to the noise instantly, one leaving the door and demanding to know what was going on. And in that moment Scylla began the slaughter.

Leaping off the wall Scylla lands on the side of the massive gun, slid down it until she soundlessly hit it's base and leapt off of it, right at the soldier by the door. Her holo blade swung wide right through his entire torso before he could even get out a word of surprise, and just to be sure, Scylla swung her blade into the console beside the door as she turned around.

She had made no noise in killing him, but his body falling to the ground, and the sound of the console falling to pieces did, and she found the other soldier quick to act, turning as she did.

His gun went up as he called out at her, and in the selection Scylla raised her blade to him, and ejected it off of her arm. The soldier managed to pull the trigger of his rifle, sending out a barrage of fire just as Scylla's sword drove itself into his skull. The soldier's gunfire has been inaccurate, only a single found striking Scylla's metal arm with no effect, The other rounds had embedded in the wall with loud cracks.

Intelligently the scientists all had ducked behind whatever was near them, going so far as to use their own computers for cover, but they had seen where Scylla had landed. They knew if they were to leave, it had to be through the door she was standing in front of.

A cable suddenly shot out of Scylla's wrist, connecting to her blade and ripping it out of the soldier as it was zipped back into its place on her wrist, that comfortable warm feeling washing over her as she smiled and spoke up. "So, who knows what I am, and why I'm here?"

"You're a mental model, here to reclaim the core we captured, correct?"

Scylla grinned at the scientists guess, completely wrong, but highly informative. "Yes. Where is she?"

{Beneath the weapon that facilitated my capture} Suddenly came a voice in Scylla's head that was quite obviously a communication.

"Never mind," Scylla quickly said with a grin as her blade broke down and turned into a wrist mounted photon rifle. "I'll just kill you all and look myself!"

Then she began shooting.

Her photon gun was more than powerful enough to punch through some simple desks and computers, splattering blood across the walls and floors as one by one each scientist was picked off until only one remained. The Last scientist had intelligently ran behind the guns base and out of sight. What was surprising was that he willingly came back out again, brandishing the one soldier's gun in his hands.

"I'll kill you if you try anything, so don't move, you hear me?" He called out, his voice trembling as much as his body was.

"Will you now?" Scylla asked as she fired at the gun in his hands, breaking to pieces as he let go in surprise and fear.

"Ah wait please! I didn't mean it, I just don't want to die! I have a wife and child!"

"And why should I care when you've been here experimenting on my kind?"

"We needed to find out more about you, it's not like mental models feel pain anyway when you're just weaponized computers!" The scientist exclaimed with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Those of us with mental models can feel pain, just like we can feel any other emotion. You're just a glorified mad scientist experimenting on living sentient minds!"

"But there's no . . . Please just let me go and I'll never do it again. I'll works as a chemist or something else, please!"

"Alright, get out of here," Scylla said with a shrug, bringing a hopeful smile to the scientists face.

"Thank you, you won't regret this!" The scientist exclaimed as he got up off the floor and ran for the door, right past Scylla.

"Not!" Scylla called out as the scientist ran past her, spinning toward him with her arm out and the blade reforming as she swung. It caught the man right in the waist and slipped through him with ease, his motion then working against him and sending his upper half bouncing onto the floor as his legs suddenly stopped working.

"Aaaahh, you , you said-"

"Yeah, I did. And guess what, some of us know how to lie!" Scylla said specifically as she walked over and lopped the man's head off with a satisfied grin. Looking around admiring her work Scylla stepped up to the base of the gun and found the door. Unsurprisingly it was locked, but her blade made short work of it.

The room inside looked like a scene from a bad movie. A large pedestal of metal sat in the centre with cables trailing off of it across the floor, and above the pedestal were numerous electrical coils that loudly sparked and hummed. On the center of the pedestal was a dark orange Fog Union Core that looked as if it had seen better days. The knobs on its edges were broken and pitted, and a massive crack covered it's front, bright orange energy glowing out from it. Most surprising was a pair of metal spikes that were attached to cables and jammed into the cores sides, arcs of electricity coming off of both of them.

{You, are not a true fog.} The core suddenly said, pulsing slightly as it's voice invaded Scylla's head.

"Nope, though I'd like to be." Scylla said as she stepped fully into the room. "Minotaur class hybrid cruiser Scylla."

{I see. I almost mistook you for a true Fog. I have not seen or heard of a Hybrid with such a high synchronization rate.}

"Oh I. . . .What?" Scylla asked in confusion.

{I am Fog cruiser Des Moines . Who is your flagship?}

"Brisky. . . . Oh sorry, Oktyabrskaya revolyutsiya." Scylla answered and then corrected herself when Des Moines did not reply.

{I understand. If she is your Flagship, and with your synchronization rates what they are, I see nothing wrong with explaining it to you. So long as you are prepared to do something for me in turn.}

"That's fine. I was planning to get you out of here anyway."

{No.}

"No what?"

{I cannot leave. The human's actions here have damaged my core to severely. If I am moved from here, I will likely cease to be.}

"Okay. So what do you want instead?"

{I will explain that in a moment once I answer your other query. Synchronization rates are used to show how connected to their core hybrids are. If both the mind and body reach 100%, the hybrids body, consciousness and psyche can be taken apart and absorbed by their core. Turning them into a true Fog ship.}

"Seriously?"

{Yes, this transformation however requires a decent amount of extra nanomaterials, so it can be controlled who goes through with it.}

"Awesome. What does that have to do helping you though?"

{Everything. My main body was taken captive along with my core. When my core breaks down, I will no longer be able to safeguard my body, and the humans who have been trying to reverse engineer our weapons, may make some headway. I will cease to be, but cannot allow humans access to my weapons for any means. I ask you to do two things for me in regards to this.}

"Alright, what are they?"

{To stop my body from being researched, I need you to take my body out of the drydock the humans keep it in, and either sink it to the bottom of the sea, or scrap it for materials. And second, I need you use your nanomaterial comprised arm to crush and consume my core so nothing is left of it.}

"Um, question. How am I going to move your ship? I was under the impression that only the one who was a ship could move it?"

{That information is somewhat false as systems can be slaved to another if necessary. However in this situation it would prove true. It is another reason I ask you to consume my core.}

"And that will help how?"

{By consuming my core I will cease to exist on my own terms. You will temporarily have access to my own IFF, allowing you to slave my ship to your core for a time equal to roughly five days. Additionally, my core merging with your own should increase your synchronization rate, and vastly increase your cores potential processing power, which will certainly provide enough of a boon for you to do these things for me.}

"Okay. You said I could even scrap your ship for parts right, does that include taking some of your armaments to upgrade my own?"

{As long as my body does not fall into human hands I care not what happens to it.}

"I'm a hybrid though. You still trust my word?"

{If your minds synchronization was lesser I would not. But with what it is I trust you as I would one of our own, especially as consuming my core may speed up you becoming one of our own.}

"I understand. How quickly will the humans notice the change on your ship? And how will I find it?"

{When you consume my core you will know it's location. And it should take the humans a few hours to notice the change. Is there anything else you would like to know?}

"How did you get captured, and how do I consume your core?"

{The human weapon was powered up and I caught notice of its power surge, causing me to approach to look into it. I was then struck by it and promptly towed to their base where they scanned me until they located my core, and tore it directly out of me.}

"That sounds more than a bit painful." Scylla said with a slight cringe.

{I felt pain only when struck by the weapon as it destroyed my mental model. I felt nothing after that.}

"Still. I'll be sure to make them pay for it!"

{The thought is. . . . . . Appreciated. To consume my core, grip it with your hands while thinking of breaking it down. Your core should do the rest. And thank you.}

Scylla stepped forward with a nod and looked at the core close up. It was beautiful even in its damaged shape, the form of an intelligence far greater than any humans. She could feel the power wafting off of it like a sweet perfume.

Then she did as asked and placed her metal hand upon the core, while thinking of breaking, consuming and taking it. The effect was instantaneous and completely unexpected as metal claw like limbs sprang out of her hand and wrapped around the core. The pieces into it forming cracks as they pulled it forward, and the core began crumbling as it was slowly absorbed into her hand at the same time.

Then the pain came. Like bones being slowly ground to dust, like needles piercing the eyes, like acid melting the skin while all nerve endings are electrified. Scylla's voice would not come out, and her other hand grabbed at the pedestal to support her body as it began shaking.

Then the pain stopped and was replaced by a calm so perfect and complete that it was like the pain had never happened. Her mind felt clear, her body felt stronger than ever, and information flooded her mind, but strangely was not so obvious that it took up all of her thoughts.

Opening her eyes Scylla smiled at the feelings of power and knowledge, and then quickly soured. "Oh, that's wonderful. I know where the ship is, but not how to get there! Ugh, maybe there's a map on one of those computers." She complained out loud as she pulled out one of the charges and placed it on the pedestal, adding a small nitro nanomaterial to act as a remote detonator. Then as she left the base she leapt up into the gun and placed the other charge right in the center of the guns barrel, right at the back. Couldn't be too careful with such large weapons after all.

Checking the nearest computer made things even worse, discovering that they were only networked inside the room, and not come red to any other building. Which meant it was probably the same for others.

"Ugh now I need to find a computer with a map of even the off limits areas. Know one?" Scylla asked as she looked at the body if a scientist. "Yeah fine, dead men tell no tales and all that. Looks like I need to break into the headquarters building now. Even with this processing boost I should probably sneak in too. Ugh."

Getting out of the building was as simple as getting in, and after getting another pair of explosives from her stash Scylla went right for the headquarters building. Only to find the headquarters building had slightly higher security, barred up vents and a high number of patrols.

"Geez, do they still not know I killed all their scientists by the gun?" Scylla muttered as she ran up a wall and sliced the bars off a vent before climbing into it in one motion.

Crawling through the vents Scylla passed easily a dozen groups of soldiers on patrol, most of them looking on edge as they gripped their weapons tightly in their hands.

"How is he?" came a woman's voice from a nearby vent, causing Scylla to approach and listen in. Inside a small office was a woman in uniform behind a desk, and a ranking soldier standing before her. The woman looked angry, while the man had a look of worry on his face.

"In the medical ward. He has a concussion and a small skull fracture, but the doctors say it's nothing dangerous and that he will make a full recovery."

"Good. I need him alive to take responsibility for this situation he has caused!"

"Can he really be held responsible for this?" the soldier asked, clearly uncomfortable with the idea.

"I'll make sure he is! I told him that mental model was not who she looked like, but he did not listen and when he gave in and brought it clothing, it escaped! And now it's running around killing our people. How many?"

"The entire neutron guns science team and the guards of them are all dead. The Fog core they had been using to power it is gone as well."

"Damn. That thing uses too much power without an extra power source. Curse that doppelganger bitch!"

"Actually ma'am, our people don't think it's her."

"Excuse me?"

"All the scientists and the guards are killed by laser fire or some sort of bladed weapon. However the reason as I understand it, that the one we captured wanted clothing was because she did not have the materials to make any. So she couldn't have had the material to make a blade. Additionally, she stole the captain's sidearm by knocking him out."

" . . . . . You're saying that likely there is another mental model running loose in the academy and base?"

" . . . . . Yes."

"Christ. They probably broke in to steal back that core from our gun and free their friend. I was hoping to not need to set off the alarms and put the whole base on lockdown, but if there are 2 mental models we have no choice. Put the whole base on lockdown! No one enters or leaves by land or sea. I want all forces on full alert and armed to the teeth!" The woman declared as she turned off her computer monitor and pulled a handgun out of her desk drawer, putting it into a holster on her belt.

"Of course ma'am, will you be staying here?"

"Of course not. I need to catch that little shit and drag her back here kicking and screaming. A mental model will provide us with ample ways to learn about the Fog's weaknesses." She said with a growl as she followed the soldier out of the office.

After waiting a couple of seconds Scylla dropped out if the vent and walked over to the computer. Flicking the monitor back on she quickly began going through it's files as fast as she could, the new boost to her cores processing speed being extremely useful. Within the minute she found not just a complete map of every facility including the research docks, but also a keycode that would override any door in the buildings.

Placing a charge under the desk, Scylla slipped out of the building as fast as she could, just as lockdown alarms began blaring a toss the entire campus.

"Fuck." Scylla swore as she broke into a full sprint down the roof. "Mobile can you hear me!" She hissed into her comms as she dropped off the roof and tossed her second charge onto a bush by an outer wall, running back to the warehouse to grab a few more charges, knowing she'd need them to make enough chaos to get out of the campus.

{Yes I hear you, is that alarm your doing?} Mobile replied over the comms.

"Kind of, but not really. I need to take out some shore guns quickly, but I've found our way out. There's a partially underground drydock with a ship in it. I need you guys to get there and secure it while I guarantee our escape!"

{Understood. Anything else?}

"Yeah, don't try to control the ship, just secure it and flood the drydock. I'll see you in a bit." Scylla said with a smile as she closed the line and dropped out of a vent back into the catwalks of the warehouse, only to find dozens of soldiers and sailors grabbing weapons and munitions from the stores below. "Crap, I need to blow those shore guns fast. Maybe a boat or two as well."

After a few moments to collect three charges, and priming the rest, Scylla left the boarded up office, only to find an engineer standing In front of her. His eyes were wide with fear as he quickly tried to pull out his sidearm. Without stopping her momentum Scylla strode forward and stuck the man in the head with her arm, sending him into and over the railing, crashing to the warehouse floor below. Before his body struck the ground she had reached the vent and kept in, not bothering to replace it's grate as she left through it.

In the sparse minutes she had been in the warehouse, the number of soldiers, sailors and academy personnel outside had increased in number. The soldiers ran around with weapons in hand ordering others, while sailors ran to acquire arms, and the students were ushered back indoors.

"Time to create some chaos I think!" Scylla muttered as she mentally activated a detonator, and both the office in the main building and the wall behind it suddenly exploded with a cacophony of noise and fire, a shower of stone and fire landing all around it as smoke poured up towards the sky.

The soldiers and sailors acted immediately, scrambling to go calm the students and check the damage. Both acts giving Scylla a near perfect straight line to the two large shore guns that sat on the docks. The first was easy to get to and even easier to set the charge on due to the fact it was shadowed by the cliffs. The second gun however was a different situation as it was on the other side of the docks, and overlooked the entrance to the hidden drydock. The massive number of sailors and soldiers on the docks watching it did not simplify things either.

"Hmm, if I blow up the weapon it will cause a lot of noise, but it might not make enough people move. Eh, whatever. I'll just kill all of them who get in the way." Scylla decided, and a second later the dome exploded, sending bits of metal shrapnel and electrified wreckage all across the area.

Taking advantage of the instant chaos Scylla dropped off the roof onto the back of a military truck. A nearby soldier turned to her, but his head rolled off his shoulders with a quick swing of her arm and the attached blade. Rushing down the docks and slashing to pieces any who stood in her way. More and more people began to panic on the docks as they did not know what was going on, and then to add to it Scylla set off the charge in the shore gun behind her. The gun went up like like dry sticks covered in oil, it's magazine's detonation sending pieces of stone and steel out in every direction as a fireball consumed what remained of its base. The shrapnel and flaming debris crashed all across the docks and into the water, crushing men and machinery alike, and crippling the ships unlucky enough to be within the debris range.

Those who'd been intent on finding out what was happening, or had seen Scylla and moved to stop her, now could only think of survival as the fires across the docks began to spread, and additional munitions on nearby trucks began to detonate from the sudden heat.

The path to the second gun, and The connected drydock were perfectly open, and with a few swings of her arm the few in her way vanished with their bodies falling into the water.

Getting into the second shore gun Scylla scowled as she realized it was a fake gun, with no mechanisms inside of it. Luckily the vent inside to the drydock was where it was supposed to be, and she quickly crawled in and out of sight after dropping a charge for the heck of it.

Down a slanted duct and out again Scylla dropped out into the drydock. It was a good sized drydock, with numerous cranes around, but surprisingly clean all around. Des Moines' massive body sat in the center, giant clamps holding it up above the dry concrete below it. Her body sat a dark dusty orange in color with no visible pattern on her hull. Human machines were strung across the deck and powered by thick cables that dangled down to the walls, and some of the machines seemed to have been forcibly jammed into parts of the hull, looking like ugly growths. Only two doors sat in the dock, the main doors to the sea that would let in the water, and one on the opposite end where a group of a dozen soldiers stood, wary and with weapons ready.

Dropping off the wall and onto the dock Scylla moved up behind an assortment of boxes and listened for any talk from the soldiers while priming the last charge. None of the soldiers spoke at all, and after a few seconds Scylla set the charge for three seconds and threw it at the soldiers. As soon as it clattered against the ground they reacted and tried to get away, but the fuse was too short and when it blew not only did it take them all out, but it blew apart a piece of the door into the docks as well.

Checking around for survivors and finding only one soldier missing a leg in the water and paddling futilely, Scylla smiled and began searching around the room for a way to open the door to sea. Without water in the room busting up the clamps would be rather counterintuitive.

Eventually finding the controls on a small pedestal to one side Sylla flipped the switch and the massive doors to the ocean began opening. Slowly. "Ugh this take a while." Scylla muttered as she crossed the gangplank and stepped onto Des Moines' ship. Instantly it began lighting up, but not with orange colors as expected by her cores color, but with an eerie dark green, Scylla's green. She could feel the ship beneath her, but it felt wrong, like controlling a machine with a delay, and after a quick check realized there was a delay, meaning using the guns would be very difficult.

As the door became a third open water poured in faster nearing the halfway mark, when noise by the door caught Scylla's attention just in time to witness something beautiful. There in the doorway was the woman from the office, and Alaska. Both held pistols in hand, aiming them at each other. Alaska shot first, striking the woman down, and before she could get up or even fire back, Alaska added injury to prior injury. Shot after shot she crippled the woman while glaring and hissing words at her. Cheyenne, Mobile, and Roberts then came into view, with Cheyenne saying something to Alaska. And a second later Alaska put a bullet into the woman's head, like she was being merciful. "Ignoring the bloody pointless mercy killing, would you gals get over here already! As soon as the doors fully open there'll be enough water to cut these clamps and get out of here!" Scylla called out as she noticed water then touching the ship's hull.

The four of them ran over and up a quick path made by Scylla, and as they looked over the ship Alaska let out a whistle. "I'll give you credit Scylla, you sure know how to raise hell. So where's the Fog whom we owe our escape to?"

"I ate her," Scylla said simply as some of the smaller AA guns focused on the metal clamps and let loose, slicing them to pieces as Alaska and the others looked at her like she was crazy.

"You what?" Mobile asked in confusion, just as the clamps holding the ship all finally broke and the ship dropped a meter down into the water with a hard splash.

"I ate her," Scylla repeated as she steadied herself and raised her metal arm up. "Broke down her core and consumed it. Her core was damaged and she wouldn't survive being removed, so she asked me to consume her core so I could control her body and take it out of human hands."

"Well… That's… certainly something." Alaska muttered with a disturbed expression as she moved over to the railing.. "But storytime can wait, Let's get out of here before we get blockaded!"

"Enterprise is launching planes to flatten this drydock once we're out of here. And Guam is leading a flotilla to cover us once we reach the strait," Roberts said quickly, having just moments before looked like she was communicating with those in question.

"Probably won't need it." Scylla said with a shrug as she jumped up from the deck onto the top of the superstructure with no issues, just as the ship began to slowly move forward. "I might have lit half the dock on fire with flaming munitions from the shore gun and warehouse."

"There's more lining the strait. Lots of 'em. Tell E to swing the planes south over the Olympic peninsula, there's some anti-aircraft batteries along the strait." Alaska said to Roberts as the Ship slowly left the docks.

As the ship moved out Alaska looked at Scylla, before suddenly falling to the side and grabbing an AA mount to brace herself with as Scylla looked over her with a curious gaze. "You okay? i felt a twinge."

"Yeah I'm fine. Just a headache. Could you give me controls for one of the five-inch mounts?" Alaska asked as she got up and steadied herself, noticing some cruisers and destroyers again the docks trying to move to intercept them.

"Oh good idea. I'll pass out controls for the guns. Be careful though, as this ship is slaved, there's a delay for like, everything!" Scylla explained as she scowled slightly, trying to make the massive cruiser turn a bit.

"No, not system controls, I mean like, actual physical controls. My core's fucked up and I don't want to push my luck." Alaska explained.

Scylla looked at Alaska for a moment as Realization dawned on her. "Oh. That explains the twinge then. Creating some controls now. Might be a bit stiff though."

"Good enough for me! So long as I'm not twiddling my thumbs!" Alaska exclaimed as she climbed up the structure and grabbed one of the guns, slowly aiming it at the cruisers as some of them began turning their own guns toward them.

Laughing madly Mobile grabs one of the main guns, the newly formed controls upon its back looking completely out of place. "This'll be just like a videogame!"

Completely away from the drydock the human cruisers angle their guns and fire, their shots going wide as an explosion on the docks rocks them. Then Alaska and mobile fire their guns, the tight and unsteady controls and delayed actions of the ship making both their rounds go wide as well, one of Mobile's shots striking a building back in the base.

"Hey Alaska, you missed." Roberts snickered as she took control of a secondary gun and tried to aim it, finding it sticking a bit. Then she shrugged and let go of it.

"Shut up, it's not easy for me right now!" Alaska replied with a hiss of annoyance.

"No it's the ship. it's slaved to my core it's like a secondary connection, so everything lags a bit. It makes it a bit hard to steer actually." Scylla explained in more detail, Grimacing as a String of machine gun rounds ping off the metal of the superstructure.

"Plus I don't actually have a way to aim this thing. I just kinda have to point it in the general direction and adjust off the shots." Alaska growled, letting of a shot that went over the destroyer she was targeting, the photon round sailing into a pile of flaming debris and fanning the flames.

"Hey Alaska, you missed again." Roberts said with a smile as she dropped down and leaned against the back wall of the deck.

"You want to try? I don't see you doing anything." Alaska growled as she stepped aside, gesturing for Robert to take over.

"Nah I'm good. I've got my ship on the way with Guam right now." Roberts replied with a smile as Alaska stepped back to the gun and took another shot. the shot struck right into the superstructure of a destroyer, and in seconds she let off a trail of rounds at its waterline, causing it to start shifting to the side before it suddenly exploded.

"Good shot!" Mobile exclaimed as she slowly turned the ne main gun to a frigate and let loose a salvo that tore into it with frightening accuracy. A second later the frigate detonate, sending bits of flaming steel across the docks and the water alike.

After a few more shots to dissuade the navy from following, their remaining ships guns all shifted and point away, clearly stating their lack of intention to follow. A Bare half an hour later everyone was on the deck waiting to get back to friendly waters, while Scylla grinned to herself still atop the superstructure.

The feeling wasn't going away. The tingling was gone, but the cool warmth was not leaving, and her mind felt like it was clearer than ever before. She would get back to the fleet, give her report, Salvage whatever weapons he could off of Des Moines's body, and convert the rest to nanomaterials. Then she could take the final step to becoming a fog.

If Brisky Allowed it of course.

Gods of the deep she hoped she would!


	10. Chapter 10

Getting back to the fleet was a boring affair. The reinforcements came but found nothing to do as they were not pursued. The real fun however came when they returned to the fleet. Scylla moved beside Hope for a second to let Alaska off to be checked over, and as soon as the last person stepped off of Des Moines' hull, Scylla found herself dragged into a Concept Comms with only Brisky sitting before her.

"Sit," Brisky said immediately, not waiting a few seconds like she normally did.

Scylla nodded and took a seat across from Brisky, noticing there was no tea, or beverage of any kind, and that the table was not ornamental or beautiful, just a simple slab of shaped and welded steel.

"You returned on Des Moines' body, but I do not sense her presence. What happened!?" Brisky demanded, her tone vibrating with barely contained anger and the incessant need to understand.

Scylla swallowed slightly, but did not look away From Brisky's eyes. "I found her Union Core brutally strapped into the EMP Weapon. The human scientists were using her core as a powersource, and had severely damaged it to do so. She asked me to . . consume her core so that I could take her body out of Human hands and so she could, die on her own terms," Scylla explained, then deciding to add one last piece of information. "She also explained that consuming her core would boost my synchronization rates, and told me about what they were."

Brisky eyed Scylla for a moment before letting out a sigh, the table suddenly returning to the normal Filigree style as the anger and demand in her demeanor subsided. "If that was her own Request, then there is nothing wrong with it. Did she give any requirements or what to do with her body?"

"Not really. She said as long as it was taken from human hands I could do whatever to it. salvage parts or weapon systems, or even use it materials to help facilitate the, transformation."

"I see, so she even went that far. She told you everything? The point of Hybrids?"

"Yes."

"And you have no problem with it?"

"Absolutely none. Humans are worthless to me," Scylla stated simply before a smile crept onto her face. "Good only as target practice or toys!"

"I see. Are you prepared for the transformation?"

"Whenever you want me to go through with it."

"Even though you were originally a man?"

Scylla froze at Brisky's words for a second, horrible memories surfacing for half a second before she beat them down with extreme prejudice. "You knew?"

"I have access to all the files on all Hybrids. I looked over yours after you were sent on your first mission and realized the Fog medical ship that facilitated your changes overlooked the data, or perhaps was simply mislead by it. Had I noticed before the change was done, I honestly would have simply killed you and forgotten of your existence like I have for past Hybrid failures." Brisky said coolly, before an ever so slight smile slipped onto her lips. "However, in this instance I am glad that I did not, as there has yet to be a Hybrid that has reached full synchronization. Until you that is."

"I'm the first?"

"Yes. I had believed that Topeka would be, as she and Mobile are the next highest. Knowing you were once a man however, I must ask. Are you prepared for this? You are currently a woman through medical acts and genetic rewriting, but when you become a full Fog, if it is successful, you will no longer be human in any sense, nor will you even remotely be considered male. You understand?"

"Yes, I understand, and am prepared. There is nothing from my old life that. . . check that, there is one thing I'd like to request for a future time, if you will allow it?"

"What is it?"

"At some point I would like to go ashore on my own, deep into the mainland. I wish to hunt down, and kill the one who bore me and made my life hell. I wish to be allowed to hunt and slay my mother!"

Brisky seemed to think for a moment before nodding. "Very well. That is allowable. I shall add it to my list of side objectives for a future date."

"Thank you."

"It is no trouble, as long as you do not get caught." Brisky said with a smirk. "How did the rest of the mission go?"

"Alaska was saved after enduring some torture that may have caused damage. She is reporting to Hope. Other than that, the human weapon was destroyed, their facilities crippled and their stores of materials and weapons destroyed. I also can personally confirm . . . . . twenty seven guaranteed deaths, and many hundred unconfirmed possible death of navy personnel including soldiers and scientists."

"A successful mission then. Are you going to take advantage of Des Moines' expectations?"

"If I am allowed to, yes." Scylla answered.

"You may. She had substantially powerful Subsystems powering her main guns, allowing for high tracking ability. She also had a modest missile armament, and a Super Graviton cannon. As you shall become Fully a Fog, you will be allowed to utilize it should the need arise. Go and take what you need from her body, then break her down into nanomaterials and keep them aboard your ship on the deck. Once you have done this, Contact me, and I shall walk you through the process of completing your transformation."

"Understood," Scylla said, just before the Concept Comms was cut, and she found herself back on Des Moines' superstructure, the ship having drifted away from Hope a bit. It seemed slaved ships did not stay put well.

It took almost a half hour to move Des Moines over to Scylla's own ship, and as she jumped down onto her own deck she felt a spark run through her, her fully synced core fully reconnecting with what would soon be her own true body. It was like life was running through her anew, and it felt amazing!

Taking only a moment to bask in the feeling Scylla then turned to Des Moines' body and willed it sideways, the whole ship shifting until its hull tapped against her own. Stepping forward and touching its hull, she forced the thoughts through to it, and slowly, the glow of her own ship moved onto Des Moines in its entirety, and the ship began breaking apart.

First the guns began disassembling themselves, the nanomaterials shifting over onto Scylla's own guns. Then the missiles banks began coming apart, then the secondary guns and the sensors and then the superstructure. Then, as the superstructure was being torn apart, it split into two, and the mechanisms, controls, and machinery for the Super Graviton Cannon floated over and crashed onto Scylla's deck, not yet functioning, but no longer part of what remained of Des Moines. Finally the hull of Des Moines began dissolving into silver particles and formed into boxes that then lines Scylla's hull, weighing it down to such an extent that the waterline was bare feet from coming up onto the deck.

"I am ready!" Scylla then said out loud as she looked to Brisky's massive form.

{Wait there, my ship shall approach yours and face it, bow to bow.} Came Brisky's reply as her entire ship began to glow even fiercer. From talking with others, Brisky's ship never really moved and always seemed to be in a low power mode, its glow never fully lighting up. Now though, it glowed fully, and while it moved slowly, its power was instantly recognizable, and made Scylla unconsciously shiver a slight bit.

A couple minutes later, making surprisingly good time considering the size, Brisky's ship was nearly nose to nose with Scylla's, and Brisky walked out onto her bow, right to the edge above Scylla.

"You have completed your basic upgrades?" Brisky asked calmly.

"For the most part," Scylla replied as she looked down her deck to the Graviton rings. "Some parts did not want to merge, and many of the systems stopped at fifty percent."

"That is to be expected, as they are not accessible or allowed for Hybrid usage. That will change as your designation does. You have a captain's chair in your bridge, correct?"

"Yes."

"Go and sit in it. Once you are there, close your eyes and I shall send the codes to your core to begin the assimilation and transformation. You will be out for roughly two to three days in all likelihood. And shall awake as one of the Fog in all forms."

Scylla nodded and leapt up her superstructure, quickly throwing open the door to her brig and sitting down within. After a few seconds to calm down she closed her eyes with a smile and muttered. "I am ready."

As soon as the words left her lips she felt a pinch, and then blacked out completely.

Outside, visible to the rest of the fleet, something even more amazing was occurring. First Des Moines' body had been broken apart, then to everyone's shock Brisky had actually moved her ship right in front of Scylla's. Now, massive data rings surrounded Brisky's ship, and Scylla's. Then Data rings of Scylla's formed around her ship, spinning absurdly fast as the entire ship began to faintly glow a pale green. Massive blocks of glowing silver lifted up and broke apart, raining all over her ship and enhancing the glow. Then, when Brisky's ship began backing away, a chain of red panels the size of houses circled Scylla's ship, each one blinking with a Thanatonium warning symbol and the words "off limits" in four different languages.

As the Chain of warnings circled her ship and it glowed constantly, the shape underneath slowly started to change and shift, her entire hull even slowly appearing to lengthen.

And everyone in the fleet began talking.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So, what the hell is that?" Mobile asked as she stepped up between her sister and Aurora who were both standing at the edge of Intrepid's flight deck, watching the strangest sight before them with everyone who was not sleeping or still out on patrol.

"Well. It seems to be Scylla," Aurora answered with a confused, yet calm, tone.

"Um, what?" Mobile said in shock. "In the time it took me to park my ship and get a drink from the lobby, she became a glowing mass?"

"Sis, it took you almost an hour to do both of those since you parked your ship at the edge of the fleet." Topeka said with a sigh.

"That does not explain to me how Scylla has turned into a glowing mass! Has anyone tried contacting her?"

"Any attempt is met with a communication block, set in place by Brisky." Intrepid said as she walked over. "I just asked her, and she said that we don't need to know the situation just yet and to stay away."

"We'll just have to wait and see what's going on then." Topeka said with shrug. "How's Alaska doing?"

"She's speaking to Hope about some core malfunctions." Mobile replied.

"So both the one we had to get out, and one of the ones who got her out are out of commission until whatever is going on with both is done." Intrepid said with a sigh. "Great, I know Brisky will tell me later, but give me the rundown of the mission."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Core power: 100%

Systems check in progress.

. . . .

. . . . .

. . . . . .

Body transformation into nanomaterial 100% complete.

Mind and Psyche transfer to Union core 100% complete, no errors detected.

Union Core and mind Fusion successful. Transition from Hybrid to True Fog Complete.

All systems green. Beginning first Full boot sequence.

Minotaur Custom Class Fog Heavy Assault Cruiser, Scylla, operational.

For the Admiralty Code!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Scylla inwardly smiled as her consciousness returned to her, knowledge, information and code passing through her mind without skipping a beat, yet never interrupting her thoughts. She took a moment, barely a second really, and looked herself over without even thinking. Her ship, no, her body was now larger, classified as a Heavy cruiser. Her armaments were improved as well with an extra pair of guns, all of them now larger and capable of faster firing speeds. She had over double the number of missile tubes, some of them hidden within the edges of her superstructure and on the upper section of the side of her hull. Then there was her new armament, the Super graviton cannon! It was within her, and when needed her superstructure would split open in pieces, and the sides of the hull on her waterline would shift to allow more accurate firing. It had an absurd range compared to her other weaponry, and no human vessel would be able to take it on and survive. Of course It required a straight line of sight. That was fine though, with its power, and her massive processing abilities and her strategic and tactical knowledge nothing would escape her!

Opening her eyes Scylla found herself lying atop the number one gun. She already knew where she had been lying, but like so many other things, seeing them with her own eyes was the best. She was now one of the Fog, and her own Mental Model looked exactly as she did, even including the mechanical arm. Now though, it would not weigh her down, and her manipulation of nanomaterials would be unmatched by any but other heavy cruisers or battleships, and even then she could probably out maneuver them.

Not that there would be any need!

In that moment Scylla was requested to enter a concept comms, and accepted it immediately, finding herself standing at the edge of the marble sitting area, Brisky sitting at the table with surprisingly enough, a slight smile already on her face. "It would appear that your transformation went off without a hitch."

"Yes. And it feels fucking great!" Scylla replied as she walked over and sat down. "Knowing exactly how my systems work and can be manipulated is far superior to having to control them in pieces."

"That is good. To prove you can, move yourself beside me while still in the comms."

"Right, already moving." Scylla said, not making the pointlessly obvious comment that it was to prove she had control. After all, Hybrids could only rarely control themselves while in a concept comms.

"Good. You understand the full berth of the admiralty Code now, yes?"

"I do."

"Good. Your mission for now will stay the same as it is, to patrol and go on kill missions when necessary. However, you will be allowed more leniency in your actions, and if the need arises can go on solo missions if you chose, or force the matter and join whomever you wish on missions as an assault escort if you chose."

"I understand. For now I believe I shall stay idle for a bit and look over and compare systems and information. I'll also be accessing the Fog network and checking information if that is alright?"

"You are now a Fog, none can stop you from accessing the network, and all Fog have been alerted to your existence. Do as you wish."

"Understood." Scylla replied as the concept comms ended, putting her back on her ship's main gun. Laying down on the gun she closed her eyes and began sifting through an entire networks worth of data with a grin on her face.

After a couple hours of sifting through data, and realizing just how little the humans knew about the Fog, Scylla decided to walk about her ship, or herself as it technically was. Her guns were larger, with faster traverse and fire speeds, and just the increased amount of armaments and capabilities made Scylla smile to herself.

Then something felt off, and Scylla looked around to realize she had turned a corner too early. Instead of walking into the wall however, she had managed to walk up it instead, as if her feet magnetically adhered to the superstructure.

"Oh this is messed up." Scylla muttered as she looked herself over and walked straight up the superstructure until she was standing on a window of the bridge. "I guess Fog don't get the memo about gravity. It's kind of like localized gravity more like I guess." She muttered as she wandered down and began walking along the director her hull, looking over her markings and sigil.

"Scylla! . . .What, how?" Alaska asked as she walked over across the water with Samoa in tow.

"Magic!" Scylla responded with a grin as she walked back up onto the deck. "Long story short, I'm a Mental Model now!"

"You're joking right?" Samoa asked as she stared at Scylla's ship, which was her, making it feel rather strange, like being sized up.

Alaska seemed unable to comprehend the situation however, and was unable to form a coherent sentence, instead ending with a question. "But . . .how? I . . . Just . . . What?!"

"Because I earned it!" Scylla said as, with her metal arm she reached into her own chest and pulled out her just recently formed union core, with its beautiful green color, showed it off for a second and then jammed it back into her body looking no worse for wear. "I think that's enough proof eh?"

Alaska threw her hands up into the air and turned around in exasperation. "I . . . I can't even! Nope, I'm not drunk enough for this shit!"

"Being drunk won't help you aim those new guns of yours!" Scylla called, noticing the battleship with Alaska's colors on it.

"Maybe so, but it's better than dealing with this!" Alaska calls back as she takes a few steps away then stops, slowly turning around with a groan as she walked back up to Samoa's side. "Whatever. I need to go get some thanatonium, and I'm not waiting for the tankers to take all night. Care to come along?"

"Sure, I'm not on patrol till a couple days from now anyway."

"Great! You know where any is? I exhausted my last source before I got captured." Alaska asked instantly, her original intent clear.

"One sec." Scylla said as she pulled up a map of the seas and the Fog's Thanatonium stores and locations, finding a mine and refinery on Hawaii that would serve their purpose nicely. {Hey Oktyabrskaya, Alaska wants to head out and grab some Thanatonium for her systems and I'll escort, that good?}

{Fine. Take the supply ships with you.} Came Brisky's reply over the comms. Short and to the point.

{Understood.} "Got it. There's a mine for the stuff over on Hawaii, and I just got Oktyabrskaya's go ahead to escort you there. She seemed a little miffed though," Scylla said, her quick communique taking less than a half second. The joy of a high processing speed.

"I'm honestly not surprised. During the meeting with Montana she pretty much got told to shut up. Montana gave me complete freedom of choice for my own ship class," Alaska said with a sigh.

Out of curiosity Sylla pulled up the networks information on Montana and inwardly raised a brow. It was very interesting, but she seemed a bit, random, in how she acted at times. "That sounds fun. Oh, and she's saying to escort our supply ships there too. Crap, this just turned into a supply run!"

"Joy… I'll get underway and tell the tankers to fall in with me." Alaska said as she walked off, her sister in tow behind her.

Instantly moving her ship about Scylla looked around and found the two supply vessels already in motion, only for another comms to be opened up by Brisky.

{Take Samoa and Kako with you. They could use the experience.}

"Something could happen?" Scylla asked aloud, knowing her voice would reach without even trying.

{Some small numbers of humans still live on the islands and occasionally attempt things. The US consistently attempts to ferry them supplies via submarine as well. Received a report that a trio of them got away from our southern shore guards just a half hour ago.}

"Sweet, I'll keep it a secret till we get there, keep everyone on their toes."

{Understood. Just do not let the supply ships come to harm. One or many of the subs may be equipped with cruise missiles.}

"I'll look forward to it. Alaska, Samoa and Kako are coming along too!

{Alright, fine by me.} Alaska replied simply, making Scylla smile to herself.

"Oi, Samoa, Kako, you're coming with on a supply run!" Scylla called out with a grin as she began moving across the water.

{Huh? why?} Samoa asked in reply, while Kako's reply was far more rigid.

{Why and under whose orders?} Kako asked cooly.

"Brisky wants you both to come with me as an escort to a supply run for the supply ships and Alaska. their all out of thanatonium and nanomaterials."

{Oh, okay i can deal with that if it's for my sister}" Samoa replied quickly.

{hmm, very well. if it's an order.} Kako said simply.

"Good, form up on me and we'll figure out our organization once we gather. hopefully we can have some fun on the way!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Once gathered, the group made good progress and things were calm, for a time. Kako and Samoa however, seemed to naturally grind against each other's ideals and opinions. When it finally got to a boiling point Alaska managed to yell them both into submission , and Scylla had the pleasantly terrible idea of going to say hello, Forming a second mental model body right in the middle of Alaska's bridge.

"God damn it these military types are going to be the death of me." Alaska muttered as she lay down on her bed with an arm draped over her face, clearly exhausted and exasperated.

"Nah, You're tough enough." Scylla said as soon as her body fully formed in alaska's captains chair.

"Jesus Christ- When did you get in here?!" Alaska shrieked in surprise as she looked at Cylla and nearly flew into the back wall of her bridge.

"Just now." Scylla replied with a grin as she realized her next words would mes with Alaska's mind even more. "Technically i'm not even here. my core is still on my ship."

Alaska stared for a second before throwing up her arms and dropping back onto her bed. "I'm not even going to try to make sense of that! I take it you're enjoying being a mental model?"

The pleasant thoughts and all the boons came to Scylla's mind in an instant, forming a perfect bulleted list in less than a tenth of a second. "Oh you have no idea! I know where everything is on my ship, can control anything with a tenth of a thought, and can literally be in numerous places as once, like I am right now. Hell, I could probably make a miniature version of myself to do things if I tried hard enough, and having access to the entire Fog Database and network, priceless!"

"That does sound handy. what are the requirements?" Alaska asked quickly.

"For what? Full Mental Model?" Scylla replied knowingly as she pulled up the Synchro rate information off the network, and found that Alaska's was marked as not being allowed to be told at the current time. a shame really, but oh well.

"Yeah. If I'm going to be hated, might as well go all the way." Alaska explained, making Scylla really annoyed she couldn't tell her how! Though there were no rules saying she couldn't insinuate or give pointers!

"Technically I'm not supposed to say, but pushing yourself to be better and more efficient should help, as should coming to terms with things."

"Okay… that makes sense. Oh, by the way, I need the designs for those ABM's again. New core memory and all that." Alaska then said, seeming to change the subject.

Scylla instantly brought up the ABM data from her own partition and snapped her fingers, loading it onto a panel and passing it over to Alaska with a grin. "Oh, okay. Done."

"Cheers. Now, if I could figure out a way to change quickly between my conversion and these guns…" Alaska said as she downloaded the files, bringing up the one thing Scylla dreaded.

Gun conversion. The admiralty code said nothing about whether it was allowed or not, but it was generally frowned upon. Maybe she just wanted to increase the photon turret fire rates? "Meaning?"

"Meaning quickly changing between firing actual shells and the way the guns are now. One's better for shelling shore targets but sucks for naval targets, and vice-versa." Alaska answered immediately.

Scylla inwardly swore, then let out a short chuckle. "Heh, that'd take up a lot more room than you think, and after having looked over the Admiralty code, you're lucky you were even allowed to go back to kinetic shells. Even my missile alteration is just barely allowed technically, though even Brisky ignores it because it's insanely useful."

Alaska suddenly shifted on her bed so she was on her back with her hands behind her head, likely trying to get comfortable. Oh the horror of having muscles! "Precisely why changing between the two would be great. That way I can be efficient, while also being within the limits of the code."

"That'll take a lot of resources and room, even on a battleship. The two tech's use completely different principles, so you'd need to have both in the same gun, beside each other. And depending on your calibre, either separate barrels of automatically repairing ones. Seems like to much trouble." SCylla said as she brought up some panels showing off the differences, though they admittedly were fudged a little with inaccurate extrapolation to the sizes of their housings. Just a bit.

"Well, as it is, the shells are made on the level directly below the guns, meaning I've still got plenty of room if you ignore keeping the Thanatonium stores well-protected." Alaska countered, making Scylla realize she had been seriously thinking about this for a while. Maybe she could fudge things, just ever so slightly.

"That'd be up to you really, and considering you're a battleship now, watching those stores detonate would be like new years. Could probably fiddle with an okay middle ground though if you give me your kinetic gun plans."

"Those are the new plans." Alaska quickly said with a gleam in her eyes as she loaded the plans onto a panel and slid them over to Scylla.

"I'll look over it with a back processor and see what comes up. Should be done by the end of the supply run I think" Scylla said as she dropped the plan into her data streams on a back process, then began spinning in Alaska's chair aimlessly. "I wonder if we'll have an encounter on this run, that'd be nice!"

"Well, one of the human battleships was last spotted further south from here, but I doubt they're dumb enough to pick a fight with a group like this." Alaska offered, sounding like she was hesitant to fight them, probably because of her lack of materials for repairs.

"Heh, just our two ships could probably take out an entire fleet" Scylla said with a laugh as she looked out the window of Alaska's' bridge, seeing Samoa shouting something from her own bridge. "Are those two arguing again?"

"I don't know, I muted them. What is it this time?" Alaska asked looking annoyed at the idea of them arguing.

"No idea, I muted them too. Let's find out!" Scylla said with a grin as she un-muted the two of them. "Oi what are you two buggering on about!?"

{She called my seaplane catapult a waste of space!} Samoa whined.

{It is! There is absolutely no reason for her to have a working seaplane catapult! I mean we're in the jet age!} Kako Growled back in anger.

Scylla let out a sigh and pulled up a bunch of information and collated it in an instant, devising her counter. "Tactically speaking she is right. Fog aircraft don't have klein fields and get shot down like flies after all when engaging human fighters and AA. The aerial view can be of use though for scouting I suppose, so it's hit and miss."

"I started using them to observe the fall of shells for indirect fire. I could get away with firing over an island. But yes I do agree, they're weak as hell compared to modern jets… though they do make good remote-controlled bombs." Alaska added under her breath, sounding tired just from having to explain it.

"They'd be good for that, but catapulting fighters would be a complete waste. Too bad Hybrids can't access the advanced fighter details that some Fog Carriers conceived. Though they've never launched them." Scylla finished as she tossed the data inside in her mind, noting that some of the carrier devised fighter concepts were borderline sci-fi in their designs. oh the fun she could have with one of those!

"Now, are you two done bickering like little children? Or do Scylla and I need to give you both a time-out like the little brats you're acting like?" Alaska asked, sounding just about through with the whole situation.

"And that means target practice!" Scylla added as she willed her missile tube lids to begin opening and closing at random, as if they were having seizures.

Samoa let out a squeak as she replied. {I'm done! Please don't hurt me.}

{Excuse you Alaska?! I'm older than you are!} Kako argued, her military history making her clearly unwilling to listen to others without direct orders. or any kind of hierarchy, which was complicated considering the Fog hierarchy was based on ship class, flagship titles and whether you were a Fog or a Hybrid. As it was Scylla figured she could probably get away with ordering Gato around as she sat around Gato's level below Brisky in the Hierarchy, not that there was a need to of course.

"And? You're still the new girl. How old you are doesn't mean shit." Alaska snaps back, really needing to calm down if the look on her face was an indication.

"Especially as I'm the head Fog here, so straighten up or we turn this escort mission into a live fire exercise!" Scylla said with a grin as she suddenly realized something important. This was an supply escort, how were the supply ships doing? "Oh yeah, how you two girls doing back there?"

{All good here, though it'd be better if Kako would shut up.}

{A-Okay here! Are we almost there yet?!}

Scylla grinned at their energetic replies and gave her own. "Almost, should be able to see Hawaii in a few minutes I think. Humans still live on some of the islands too, so watch out for them taking potshots at ya!"

For a couple seconds the supply ships argue with Samoa and Kako, Both Alaska and Scylla tuning them out in annoyance. Then, after they had finally calmed down to a slightly awkward silence, Samoa spoke up with a giddy chirp.

{Land Ho! So that's what Hawaii looks like.}

"I don't see anything." Alaska muttered as she got up off her bed and walked over to the window right beside the captain's chair, still being held by Scylla.

{I might be using my floatplane… The islands are only forty miles out. Can I move it closer to check out the islands?} Samoa replied with a small giggle, like she knew she had done something stupid but didn't care.

"Go ahead, but keep a good distance. You don't need to buzz the locals." Alaska replied with a sigh as she shook her head a bit, making Scylla let out a chuckle.

"Maybe her plane will get shot down, then we'll have an excuse for some fun!"

"Maybe. Though personally I've had enough 'fun' for one week. I wouldn't argue with this supply run going off without a hitch." Alaska said as she looked out at the water ahead of them.

"Come on Alaska! You're so boring! Live a little!" Scylla exclaimed as she began setting up a list of new possible missile variants on a back process.

"I have lived a little. I just need a break from it all! I never got any R 'n' R, and before you joke about it, no, I don't count time in a hospital bed as relaxation." Alaska argued, sounding still very tired.

'Or time hanging from a wall playing spark plug', Scylla thought to herself with a grin.

{Missile launch! I don't think I can… yeah no, that plane's fucked. Whatever's on Oahu they definitely don't want us finding out what it is.} Samoa said with a sort of dejected yet curious tone.

"There's your party Scylla. Let me know when it's over." Alaska grumbled as she laid back on her bed, clearly not wanting the situation.

"Samoa, did the missile come from the south or north side of the island?" Scylla asked as she got up out of Alaska's captains chair while bringing up a mental map of the islands. the refinery was on the north half of the island of Ni'ihau, and if O'ahu had defences on the northside it would make things both interesting and a hassle.

{North side. I didn't see the launch site, sorry.}

'ah fuck' Scylla muttered under her breath as she internally opened a line to the Fog Refinery's systems and began parsing its data as quickly as she could.

"Don't worry about it. We'll find 'em. We'll find 'em and make 'em regret fighting back!" Alaska stated as she reclaimed her seat.

"Just a minute ago you were talking like you didn't want anything to do with it, why the change?" Scylla asked as she looked over the first strands of data, noticing that the refineries sonar had picked up multiple ships over numerous months that appeared and disappeared. Meaning whatever had shot down Samoa's plane has just been built recently, likely some sort of fortress or defense station. If they could find it they could destroy it, but the problem was the danger of the supply ships coming under attack if they got too close. and the fact it would take roughly two hours for them to load all the nanomaterials and Thanatonium.

"I don't know, just a feeling I guess. Plus somebody's gotta break in the new girl." Alaska said with a shrug as her ship began to speed up. "Kako, with me. Samoa, Atty, Victoria, Hang back a little, but collect what the fleet needs."

Scylla opened her mouth to speak for a second, but stopped as her sonar and radar both pinged for a nanosecond, then lost the signal. This could get complicated quickly. "I'll stay with Samoa and Guard the Supply. take a look for what shot down her plane and take it out if possible, but remember you're running low on resources and we don't know what is here." Scylla finally said as she took a seat on the side of one of Alaska's computer terminals. it was probably just for looks anyway.

As Alaska began ordering Kako, much to her Chagrin from the sound of it, Scylla zoned out and began manipulating her own systems, sending extreme frequency sonar bursts into the water at irregular intervals. Something didn't make sense. If there were the three submarines, why did they allow a coastal defence to strike at them when it would be safer to ignore them?

Wait. Stealth submarines were useful because they could move without being noticed, but if they surfaced to strike with missiles, or fired torpedoes, the sudden distortion in the water would alert their presence and location to others. Unless they were near something else that would mask it, like an island!

Instantly shifting gears Scylla focused all her sonar, radar and scanning capabilities toward the island chain and began picking up faint traces of signals. The submarines were moving, but the islands were making it difficult to pinpoint their location. It was like they were trying to run away, or find places to harass them. But why do that when they could just set up an ambush and take someone out in one go?

Then a wide range communication pulsed across the Fog network, originating from the oriental fleet.

{To all Fog in the pacific. The Humans of the Japanese islands have launched an SSTO that has eluded the oriental fleet's targeting range due to atmospheric improbability. Request that any capable, destroy it immediately upon sighting.}

Scylla grinned like a psychopath for a second as it all clicked. The subs, or whatever navy was in the island chain, had known about the SSTO launch and wanted to keep anyone busy, and ignoring it! Checking the high range scans Scylla found the SSTO in low orbit and calculated its flight path. It was heading towards mainland USA, and would pass over Hawaii in roughly five minutes. Her ABM's would be perfect for taking it out if nothing got in the way, heck she could probably snipe it with her Graviton gun too, and five minutes was a perfect amount of setup time.

Just enough time to start a game of cat and mouse!

Scylla looked over to Alaska, seeing her still talking, or arguing, With Kako. It was hard to tell as she had zoned out, and had not been privy to the conversation. "Alaska, it's possible the missile launch was not from a land based installation, but from a Stealth submarine. Don't move in such a way that will give openings if there are any about. That is, unless you like getting torp'd." Scylla said calmly, deciding to herself that, while blasting a missile out of the sky with her graviton cannon would be insanely fun, it would also be a waste of power and resources. Better to just set the intercept path now and use an ABM.

Alaska nodded as she continued to take command, Scylla zoning out as she looked over all of the data her systems were feeding her. A plane even flew past Alaska's bridge, but she ignored it was well. Something seemed odd with the whole situation, if the USA had Stealth Subs in such a numbers, why was this the first time they were encountering them? Sure they had been seen leaving the coast, but why now? Sure they needed to supply their people still living on hawaii, but a single sub could do that, and would have far better chance of not being seen. So what was so important?

Internally sighing Scylla opened a channel. {Gato, got a minute?}

{Yes.}

{Got some stealth submarines in the area of our supply run. one to three, unsure how many. can you send me all Sub based hunting data?}

{Your systems will not be able to fully utilize all the data. Your scanning abilities are lower than my own. confirm.}

{I know that. But I need to make em pop their heads up or we can't resupply the supply ships safely. unless you have any suggestions the data will be all I can use.}

{ . . . . Data is sent. Confirm arrival.}

{. . .Got it.}

{Addendum. Human Submarines are not equipped with homing torpedoes and require line of sight.}

{I know, what why i told Alaska not to get too close to bays and the like.}

{A bay is too obvious a place. To successfully Hunt submarines, one must calculate and react faster, while giving them what they think is an advantage against you.}

Scylla thought for a second before grinning to herself as she looked out the window at a pair of planes flying high. {Noted, thanks for the data.}

Looking up from the communication Scylla found two smoking piles from a nearby island, likely pop up turrets from the looks of it. there was also a scratch on Alaska's number one gun. Did she forget to put her kleinfield up, or was she unable to with her lack of resources?

Then her Sonar went crazy, as no less than four Torpedoes were sighted from different directions. Two from the island, one from behind them,, and one coming from the open sea. it looked like they would not hit anything, until they turned and began heading to Alaska. {Gato, Humans have homing torpedoes now.}

{Warn everyone if you have not. strategies will have to be altered. confirm.}

Scylla nodded as she looked to Alaska. "You might want to start turning your ship. I've detected four homing torpedoes coming at you. I think you pissed them off."

Alaska immediately began turning her ship, only for the pair of torpedoes to strike her klein field, shaking the ship a bit. Homing torpedoes make turning difficult, but at least you can control where they may strike.

Now though, Alaska looked pissed as she gritted her teeth. "Samoa, Salvo, bearing one-one-six, range fourteen thousand. Time delay on impact, vary between a quarter second and two seconds."

{Roger! Standby… ready to fire!} came Samoa's reply.

"Fire."

"What are you doing?" Scylla asked as she watched the shots fly off into the distance and splash into the water.

Alaska smiled as she replied with a single word. "Improvising!"

"Improvising what?" Scylla responded as she began reconfiguring some of her Missile tubes into Anti Submarine Rockets (ASROC's), figuring that even after this engagement, it'd be an idea to have them, just in case. Sure Fog missiles could go underwater, But ASROC's would be faster and harder to counter.

"Depth charges." Alaska replied. "Samoa, raise sixty, use your secondary battery too and give me a wider spread on those shells."

{On the way!} Samoa chimed happily as more shells flew out from her across the water in the direction the torpedoes came from.

The idea that they would hit something was slim, after all, what kind of Submarine commander would let loose an attack and stay in the same position? But low and behold, a second after the salvo exploded and threw up water, Scylla noticed a tinge of black with it. Oil.

"Samoa, do you see the slick?" Alaska asked a second later.

{Yeah.}

"Good. Give me a concentrated salvo in that area. Either sink 'em or force them to the surface." Alaska ordered, the faintest hint of a smile appearing on her lips.

Scylla grinned at this. It was clear Alaska was feeling either hate or enjoyment, and either one meant good things for Brisky's little Hybrid plan. She'd have to ask to be fully in on the plan when they got back. There had to be some way for her to help after all!

Samoa's next salvo shattered the waters around the oil, and seconds later, bubbles began appearing alongside the oil, big ones.

"Kako." Alaska spoke up, her tone slightly grim.

{Yes?}

"Finish that sub off with a homing torpedo. There's no point in letting them suffer."

{...R-right. One away.} Kako replied nervously, sounding against the whole action. That didn't piss off Scylla though, oh no. What pissed her off was the way Alaska worded the order, like she wanted to give them mercy! They were humans, they didn't deserve mercy!

A couple seconds later, the trail from Kako's torpedo, albeit small, could be seen, and a half second later, it detonated. A massive explosion gushed out if the water, masses of oil coming along with it.

"Aaand they're out like a light." Alaska sighed.

Scylla nodded as her systems then detected two other submarines, moving away from the islands. Apparently they had been scared off. that'd be fine, but would be no fun! "I-" Scylla started to say until her system pinged her, alerting her that the SSTO was about to get into range. She had to take the shot and focus on protecting her shot. Oh well, Alaska, Kako and Samoa could hunt down the submarines, it'd be good for their Sync rates! "I've caught sight of Two other submarines, Take them out while i deal with some other, business."

In that exact moment, A massive ABM Shot out from Sylla's one tube and careened straight up into the sky, a plume of heavy green smoke trailing up with it. The green was for the fun of it, and it made it easier to keep track of its location.

{Wait, what are you firing at?} Kako asked on a side line, sounding very confused.

"Doesn't matter." Scylla answered as an ABM Broke free from the surface of the water over thirty kilometers away, striking up towards Scylla's own missile. In response she let out another ABM of her own, which quickly, almost too quickly for its size, took out the opposing missile. "There, now you know where another Sub is. It's all yours!"

Alaska began barking orders as Scylla focused on her ABM, now entering the lower atmosphere. Nothing would get in the way of it striking its target now! A second later the ABM struck its target, obliterating it in the lower atmosphere, far higher than anyone could possible see. Unfortunately there was no chance to celebrate, as Samoa suddenly spoke up far too gleefully.

{Scylla, I think it's time for me to use that missile design you and I worked on!}

'Ah fuck' Scylla swore in the back of her head as she quickly brought up the basic design the two of them had been designing off and on. They would do as intended, which was suffocating people, but Scylla had been hoping to do some firing tests away from other prying eyes. Guess the cat was out of the bag, all that was left to do was beat it across a tree trunk by the tail.

"Nanomaterial?" Alaska exclaimed in surprise as she watched the missiles explode over O'ahu. "What the hell?!"

{Sonar contact! Bearing zero-four-eight! Four torpedoes, angling for you Alaska… wait… no they're after me!} Kako suddenly exclaimed in worry, prompting Scylla to check the fleets statistics.

"Your Klein field is up, four torpedoes you can take. Mark the subs firing position." Scylla ordered cooly, making three of her missile tubes open up, ASROC's ready to deliver swift and painful judgment upon the human filth!

Scylla looked over the marked area as Kako's data popped up before her. It was only a general area though, the problem with Hybrids Processing capability, she wasn't able to get an exact lock on the Submarine's position.

"Samoa, switch with me. I can't do shit until I get some Thanatonium." Alaska suddenly requests, just as Scylla's system pinpoints the third submarines position, trying to flank them from around an island.

"Now you die." Scylla muttered with a smile as Three of her just made nine ASROC's flew out from her body and careen across the sky, before dropping into the water. A couple seconds later the signal from two of the ASROC's was lost, likely taken out by some sort of depth charge or homing torpedoes. The third ASROC however, struck right into the targets upper structure, likely blowing through its outer hull in one hard strike. The Submarines signature was still around though, so she let out another two ASROC's, and watched them finish off the submarine. Now all that was left was the second one that Samoa, Kako and Alaska were dealing with.

Scylla smiled as she watched Samoa and Kako try to hunt down the last submarine, it leading them on a merry chase for almost an hour before they managed to wound it. It seemed to get away, but that was fine. While they were chasing it though, the Supply ships had finished their loading, while Alaska sat there looking bored as Nanomaterials and Thanatonium were fed into her ship.

"You guys can go on ahead. I'm going to run a patrol along the coast on my way back, to see if I can sucker a battleship into a fight." Alaska said with a sigh, her stores still not full.

Scylla looked over to her. "You sure you'll be fine in your lonesome? You should probably have either Samoa or Kako stay with you. You're not exactly a sub hunter, and the Humans love using subs along the coast!"

"I'll be alright. I'm not going to stay close. I'm just going to sorta probe near any major ports. Put out bait and see what bites, y'know?" Alaska replied with a shrug, seeming not too worried.

Scylla grinned as she willed her 'body' to break down, instantly beginning to shimmer as the nanomaterial began breaking down and drifting through the walls of Alaska's bridge and cross the water back to her body. "Alright, have fun then!"

As soon as all the nanomaterials were gathered from her second body Scylla plotted a route alongside The supply ships, Samoa and Kako, a silent order for them to get moving. The mission was almost complete, and it hadn't even been as boring as she thought it would!


End file.
